Dangerous Surf
by Bob Wright
Summary: Something is happening offshore at the beach Nicki is lifeguarding at for the summer. And when she investigates, it'll be her life that will need saving. NOW COMPLETED.
1. A Terrible Find

DANGEROUS SURF

BY

BOB WRIGHT

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Fear Street title is the property of Robert Lawrence Stine. And now, sit back and enjoy the story.

* * *

_There came a crunching sound to Claudia's left. She stopped suddenly and turned. In the pale glow of the moonlight, nothing was visible, yet she had a strange feeling someone was watching her. She gulped nervously. Perhaps McGovern knew she had followed him from the warehouse in town._

_She pushed her way through the vines flanking the garden of the old mansion. Not a light could be seen inside, but Claudia knew the killer had to be in there. His car had gone up to the building, even though she couldn't see it now. She just had to find proof that he had killed the victims and get it to the police in time._

_There came another crunching behind her. She spun, but again no one was there. "Stay strong," she told herself as bravely as she could, "It's all in your head, Claudia. He doesn't know you followed him."_

_She took a deep breath and pushed the last set of vines away. There was the mansion right before her..._

_And then someone tapped her on the shoulder. She spun-and screamed. For the vines were somehow lunging right towards her. They started wrapping themselves around her before she could run. Panicked, Claudia strained to break loose, and managed to snap a few vines through, but there were too many of them. She let out one more scream before the vines smothered her mouth, and then half her face. Unable to breathe, she gasped desperately for air inside the thick green cocoon now engulfing her from head to toe and squeezing the life from her slowly and methodically... _

"Hey Nicki, you paying attention to the job?" came the call to her left.

"Oh, yeah, of course," Nicki Price lowered the book she was reading and glanced over the length of Coronado Beach at all the swimmers enjoying the bright summer day. "Doesn't look like any problems," she announced, "It's amazing how well-behaved most people have been here since I came down."

"Well like I said on-line, Nicki, this is a nice, quiet beach with very few if any problems," Samantha Koppel spoke up from the back of the lifeguard tower, "In the three years I've been a full-time lifeguard, there've only been about two or three major disturbances. Unless the bigger beaches to the south, everyone here's well-behaved and clean."

"And handsome too; hello there, guys," to Nicki's left Jessie Greenbriar waved dreamily to several handsome boys that ran by with surfboards. "Yeah, I guess you could keep reading half the day," she told Nicki, "Lord knows you're really into that book."

"I've always loved the Claudia Waterman series," Nicki confessed, "And they said this one was going to be good."

She lowered the book nonetheless and stared blissfully out into the ocean. About two dozen people were swimming about in the section of the beach she and her friends were responsible for, and all of them seemed to be in fine shape. Yes, she thought, her summer as a lifeguard was going quite smoothly indeed.

A brisk sea breeze ruffled through her long blonde hair as she raised the book back up and started reading it again. She'd gotten a call from Samantha back in May, inviting her down to Coronado Beach for the summer. Samantha had moved away from Nicki's neighborhood back home in Shadyside four years ago, but the two of them had remained close friends on-line. Initially Nicki's parents had been a little reluctant about having her away for three months, but Nicki had put their minds largely at ease by promising to call every day until the end of the summer (she'd agreed to return from Florida exactly a week before her senior year of high school began). Samantha's family had made quite a bit of money in real estate since settling down in Coronado Beach, and thus were now the owners of a large beach house near the beach. It had been in there that Nicki had been spending the last month and a half. Almost from the first day, Samantha had made sure to introduce her to Jessie, who'd become her best friend in Coronado Beach over the last four years. It was an interesting matchup as Nicki saw it; Samantha, stocky and introverted with short brown hair that often made people confuse her for a boy when outside her lifeguard uniform, was more the type of person to keep to herself, whereas popular attractive Jessie, with long, thick curly red hair and a million dollar smile, was very much the life of the party in town and attended almost every social gathering the local teenagers went to. Nonetheless, she and Jessie had become friends very quickly themselves. She and Samantha had been working as lifeguards for the last three seasons and had convinced Nicki to join them in it while she was there. Nicki had heartily agreed; she was an ace member of the swim team back home anyway. And so for the last month and a half now, she'd proudly worn the blue bathing suit of the Coronado Beach Lifeguard Department in protection of the beach's swimmers.

Something caught her attention just outside the tower. "You guys hear that?" she raised her hand, concerned, "Sounds like somebody's crying."

"Yeah, I hear it too," Samantha glanced around, but Nicki had seen it first: a small boy of about five standing about ten yards away, sobbing. She jumped up and bustled down the ramp and over to him. "Hello there," she bent down to his level and greeted him gently, "Don't cry. Are you lost?"

She glanced around, and couldn't see a parent anywhere. The boy didn't say anything and in fact looked apprehensively at her. "It's OK, I'm not going to hurt you," Nicki told him softly, "My name's Nicki, and I'd like to help you find your mommy. So what's your name so I know who to look for?"

The boy looked uncomfortable giving it to a stranger, but mumbled softly, "Jacob."

"How about your last name?"

"Lister."

"Jacob Lister. That's a nice name," Nicki turned to the tower and nodded at her friends to put out an APB. Samantha immediately scampered for the tower's radio. "OK, Jacob, my friends up there are going to try and find your mommy," she plopped down on the sand next to him, "I'll keep you company until she shows up, is that OK?"

"Guess so," he mumbled softly without looking at her.

"That's wonderful," she smiled warmly at him. "You ever draw on the sand?" she asked him, "I did when I was your age. Why don't we play a little tic-tac-toe? Come on, it'll be fun."

She drew the basic outline of a tic-tac-toe board in the sand. "You can go first," she offered him. He drew an X in the center square. She countered with an O in the top right. He put an X in the top center. Deciding to let him win and feel better, she drew her next O in the bottom right. "Very good, Jacob," she commended him as he completed the tic-tac-toe, "Why don't we do another one then?"

"Jacob!" came a relieved cry. A woman rushed straight across the sand towards the boy and hugged him close. "Don't ever run off like that again and scare me!" she breathed between excited gasps, "I was so worried!"

"I'm sorry, Mommy; I thought there'd be shells over here to look at," he told her.

"It's all right," she kissed him. "Thank you for finding him," she commended Nicki, "I got the message up the beach; I can't thank you enough...!"

"You don't have to, Mrs. Lister; we aim to help anyone who needs it," Nicki smiled, "The two of you have a nice day here at Coronado Beach and stay close to each other."

Mrs. Lister nodded firmly and led her son off up the beach. "You really enjoyed playing with him, didn't you?" Jessie was all smiles as Nicki ascended back into the tower.

"I like working with kids, Jessie; they kind of bring back a good feeling about my own childhood," Nicki admitted, picking her book back up, "I'm glad it turned out well."

"Yeah, it's all too easy to get separated here on a busy day," Samantha agreed, scanning the horizon for anything out of the ordinary in the water. A parent gets distracted for just a little while, and when you turn around, your kid's gone."

There came a thump as a beach ball landed against the side of the tower's walkway. There came a shuffling of feet as one of the players at the nearby volleyball net ran over to retrieve it. "Hello, ladies," a familiar voice greeted the three of them. "No problems today, I guess."

"Nope, nothing to worry about yet, Adam," Jessie was blushing. Nicki couldn't blame her. Ever since she'd arrived at Coronado Beach and seen him for the first time, she'd found Adam Marshton to be easily the handsomest boy in town. With slick brown hair and a strong build, Adam came from a wealthy family, Samantha had explained to him, and thus was able to spend a lot of time on the beach, and so she'd seen him almost every day since she'd arrived. "Hi there, Nicki," he greeted her now, making her blush herself, "I saw you helping that boy; that was really sweet of you to comfort him like that."

"Thank you," she stammered to keep a straight face, "You know our codes as lifeguards; anything we can do to help beachgoers."

"Yep, and so far this summer you seem to be doing pretty good," Adam leaned against the side of the tower, "Hey, like to remind you, we'll be having a party out here later tonight; you're more than welcome to come."

"Well, we'll see what comes up," she shrugged, "I'd like to if I could, though."

"You'll like it, trust me, Nicki," he assured her, smiling at her in a while that made her feel like melting.

"Hey Adam, are we going to play or what!?" one of his teammates shouted at him.

"Right," Adam picked the beach ball back up. "Catch you girls later," he called to them in parting before running back to his group. Nicki sighed dreamily, wishing he could stay longer. "Yeah, he is the handsomest," Samantha sighed as well, "I've wanted to ask him out ever since I moved here."

"Too bad he's stuck with that snob Heather Rundle," Jessie grumbled, "They've been going steady for three years; no reason for them to stop now."

"Well, we can always dream, I guess," Nicki said softly and dejectedly. Heather was easily the most popular lifeguard in the Coronado Beach staff, and spent all her time when around the others putting them down over it. Nicki herself had been the subject of some of her venom ever since she'd arrived for the summer. She was glad they worked separate ends of the beach, and thus wouldn't have to put up with each other that often.

"Hey, something's going on over there," Samantha announced, pointing. Nicki snapped out of her stupor and followed her friend's finger to the waterline about fifty yards away, where people were starting to congregate, some of them screaming. "Something's not right," she announced, rising up again, "Jessie, get on the horn and see what anyone knows; Sam, let's check it out."

She dashed down the ramp to the sand, Samantha right behind her. "Excuse us, lifeguards, let us through," she announced, clearing a path through the crowds, "Coronado Beach lifeguards, what's...oh my God."

For lying in the sand before her was the dead body of a man, terror frozen on his face and a grievous bloody wound in his chest...

He had only enough time to wonder how the kid could have tricked him again before the line gave way and he slammed full on into the wall.


	2. The Unexplainable?

For a moment, Nicki's blood had frozen up in shock and horror. Often Claudia dealt with dead bodies in her series, but to see one up close and personal, knowing the person was truly dead...it was far more abrupt and shocking than simply reading a description on a page.

"Move, move, what's going on here!?" came a hyper new voice. The squat figure of lifeguard in chief Larry Smarr rushed through the crowd. Nicki could still remember sitting in his office on the edge of the beach right after she'd come to Coronado Beach to interview for a job with the lifeguards over the summer. Her strong record as a varsity swimmer had quickly won him over, and she'd gotten the job with few questions asked. A natural leader in his profession, Smarr spent much of his time in his office communicating back and forth with the lifeguards for an up-to-the-minute update each day on his radio, usually coming out only for emergencies--as certainly was the case now. "Oh my God," he breathlessly echoed Nicki's own assessment, "How...how did this happen!?"

"I heard Joey scream, I turned to look, and he was floating there in the surf!" a pale woman spoke up clutching her equally petrified son close, "Is he...!?"

"Yeah, he's long dead," Smarr was shaking his head as he felt for a pulse, "He's been dead for hours. Well folks, don't let this bother you," he assured the swimmers gathered around the body, "This is just a freak accident of some kind; this almost certainly can't happen again here. This man, whoever he is, was probably swept overboard and landed on some rough rocks near..."

"HELP!!" came a sudden cry from out in the ocean. Nicki's head spun. There was someone flailing around out there, waving their arms. Immediately she made a dash for the lifeguard tower before Samantha had moved at all and grabbed a life preserver. "Hold on!" she called out to the figure in the water, rushing into the surf and paddling furiously through the waves towards the victim. Three years on the varsity swimming team were paying off, as it took Nicki only about a minute and a half of strong strokes to reach the woman. She looked weak and was barely clinging to a barely still inflated life preserver of her own. "Coronado Beach lifeguards; come with me!" Nicki took the woman's hand and pulled her onto her own more stable life preserver, "Kick with me here; we're get you to shore and help!"

She put an arm around the woman and kicked back towards the beach herself. Jessie and Samantha were waiting in the shallows to help drag the victim onto the sand. "Are you hurt at all, miss?" the former asked, looking with concern at a nasty slash mark on her wrist, "Do you need anything that...?"

"JOHN, NO!!!" she screamed at the sight of the man's corpse and broke down into hysterics. "It's all right, it's all right," Smarr assured her, "We're going to get you to a hospital A.S.A.P.; Samantha, make the call, now."

"Right," Samantha dashed for the tower. "I'll need some help here, anyone who can help, move her further up on the sand," Smarr directed the crowd. A half dozen people joined him, Nicki, and Jessie in moving the woman, who tried to pull away towards the dead man as she was towed past him. Nicki felt sorry for her; clearly she had lost someone precious to her. Something was also clicking in the back of her mind, though; logical as Mr. Smarr's theory of an accident at sea might be, somehow she had the feeling it wasn't quite that simple, that there was something more sinister to it than that. Something she just had to find out...

* * *

"You OK there, Nicki?" Samantha asked her as she swung shut the door to the tower at the end of the day, "You've been quiet since everything went crazy this afternoon."

"Yeah, well, that tends to stick with you, something that intense," Nicki admitted as the three of them bustled across the sand, silhouetted by the setting sun to the west, "And just looking how bad shape she was in. If you two don't mind," she turned to her friends, "I'd actually like to visit her while there's still time tonight, to make her feel better and see what happened."

"I don't know if that's the best idea, Nicki," Jessie looked skeptical, "She's taken a pretty nasty shock seeing the dead body and going through the whole ordeal..."

"And company might do her good," Nicki insisted, "I'm not going to be gone too long, just enough to make sure she's OK and can get out whatever happened to her."

"So you're going to try your hand at being like Claudia then, huh?" Samantha half-joked.

"Well..." Nicki had intended to rebuff this, but realized there was a point in her friend's statement. They passed lifeguard central tower, passing Smarr on his way out as well. "Good night, girls," he told them, "Good work earlier today bringing the woman in, Nicki."

"Thanks, Mr. Smarr," she told him, "It's always a good feeling to bring someone in alive."

"I clearly made a good decision hiring you; you're one of the best lifeguards on staff this summer even for a comparative amateur," he commended her, "See you tomorrow."

He walked off in the opposite direction. The girls were largely quiet for the rest of the trip over the dunes to the squat beach house the Koppels now owned. It was all theirs for the week, since Samantha's parents were in the middle of a two week cruise in the Caribbean. The phone was ringing as they went inside. Nicki knew exactly who it was and reached for the receiver once she entered the kitchen. "Good evening, Mom," she greeted her mother warmly.

"Good evening, honey," Mrs. Price told her warmly in return, "Everything go OK down there today?"

"Um," Nicki debated whether or not to say anything about the dead body. She decided it wasn't dire enough to make her parents worry about it. "Yeah, it was another great day today, Mom. I helped pull a woman out of the ocean; looks like she'd been floating around for a while."

"Very good," her mother commended her, "You should feel proud."

"I do," Nicki blushed, "So, the big question is, are you and Dad still holding up without me?"

"Oh, we're managing, but it'll still make us happy when the summer's over and we can have you back again. Before I go, though, Nicki, I might want to keep an eye on the weather down there if I were you. That hurricane that formed at the base of the Bahamas looks like it's heading your way."

"Yeah, I saw that this morning, Mom, but right now it looks like it'll curve out to sea before it gets near us. Thanks for the concern, though. Well, I'd better get going; there's something I'd like to take care of tonight."

"All right, go on and take care of it. Your father and I love you so much and miss you."

"I love you too, Mom," Nicki smiled as she hung up. Too many people today her age seemed to hate their parents with a passion; she took pride in knowing hers cared enough to want to call her every night. "OK, I'm going to get dressed and head on over to the hospital," she told her friends.

"Just so you know, that party on the beach'll start without you," Jessie pointed out for her benefit.

"I'll be back for the party, Jessie, don't you worry about it," Nicki strode towards the bathroom, "It doesn't take too long for a good deed, I always say."

* * *

"I don't know her name," Nicki explained to the receptionist on duty at the hospital's lobby check-in, "She was the one found swimming in the ocean earlier today."

"Let me check," the receptionist typed some information into her computer. "Oh yeah, dehydration and sharp cuts. Room 234. Better hurry, though; visiting hours are almost over for the night."

"I will," Nicki bustled towards the elevator. A quick ride up to the second floor and a brief walk down the hall brought her to Room 234. She slowly entered the room. The woman was lying in bed, covered with a thick blanket, but at least no longer looking hypothermically blue. "Hello," she casually greeted the woman, who turned slowly to face her, "You might remember me from earlier; I'm Nicki, I pulled you out of the ocean. I was a little worried about you; feeling any better?"

"I think so, Nicki," the woman managed a smile, "It's nice that you care. I'm Lynn; Lynn Snyder. Or I was..."

She broke down into tears. "That was your husband who washed up then before you did, I guess?" Nicki asked as gently as she could manage; a burst of intense grief from Lynn all but confirmed this. "I'm so sorry," she took the woman's hand, "I wish we'd heard of whatever had happened earlier; maybe we could have done something..."

"Oh don't hold yourself to that, honey," Lynn tried to force a smile, "I don't think anything could have made a difference."

"Oh," was all Nicki could think of to say. "So, if it's not too hard for you, what actually happened?" she asked, "Maybe you'll feel better if you get it out of your system, you know."

"Well," Lynn seemed rather hesitant, "You're not going to laugh if I tell you, are you? That's what the medics, the doctors, the police all did when I told them--although it was a bit bizarre."

"Promise to God I won't laugh no matter what," Nicki raised her hand as if under oath, "Go on."

Lynn sighed uncomfortably. "Last night was our tenth anniversary," she related, "John had proposed in a boat in the middle of the ocean under the stars. He suggested we do the same this year. So we rented a boat up in St. Catherine and prepared to spend our anniversary at sea. Everything was great at first; we dined, we danced on the deck, we watched the sun set and the stars glowing above. Then it all happened."

She took a deep breath, pain and embarrassment on her face. "There was a bump underneath the ship," she said slowly, "We looked over the railing, but we couldn't see anything. We went back to watching the stars, and for about five minutes we did. Then I heard the splashing from the railing. I turned, and there they were: those horrible creatures..."

"Creatures?" Nicki frowned.

"Terrible things from the ocean depths; I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it myself," the woman told her, hesitant, as if expect Nicki to break up in laughter, "Glowing green in the darkness, and with razor sharp claws a foot long. They jumped the two of us and tried to stab us to death with their claws. John managed to pull me free from them just long enough to push me overboard to safety. I pleaded with him not to, that I didn't want to leave him, but he begged me back just to keep swimming and not to stop or look back. So I did, even though I heard him screaming back on the boat. I was soon completely tired and drained, and so I basically drifted along on the tides for fifteen, sixteen hours until you found me. The thought John might have survived kept me going, kept me from giving up. Now what am I going to do that he's...!?" she broke down again, "He was my life as much as I was his; how can I go on without...!?"

"I'm sorry," Nicki told her again, trying to hold it together herself, "But you'll pull through, Mrs. Snyder, I promise you that. No one should feel miserable their whole lives. If you remember your husband fondly, he'll never really leave you. You'll be all right in the end, I promise. And the police will find out whatever exactly happened and put a stop to it somehow."

There came a creaking at the door before Lynn could answer to this. "Visiting hours are over now," a nurse informed her.

"Right," Nicki nodded and turned to leave. "I, uh, hope everything goes well for you from here on," she told the woman in parting, "Don't forget what I said."

"I won't, Nicki," Lynn smiled at her, "You're a very kindhearted young woman, and I hope nothing that but the best befalls you. Come around again if you'd like."

"We'll see what I can manage. Good night," Nicki walked out the door. It felt good to have made Lynn's life a little happier in the face of her grave tragedy.

With that in mind, she tried to wrap sense around Lynn's story as she rode the elevator down to the lobby and then strolled out of the hospital into the twilight streets of Coronado Beach. Terrible glowing green creatures from the ocean's depths? It admittedly sounded like the grim hallucinations of a woman who'd been stranded at sea too long. But then again, why would Lynn lie about something as dire as whatever had taken her husband's life? Certainly not if she seemed so overly concerned Nicki wouldn't believe her. But if it was true, what were these creatures she'd spoken of? Someone playing a prank, or something real through and through?

These thoughts swam rapidly through her head as she approached the crosswalk over Tropical Avenue. Traffic in both directions was moderate, so she waited patiently after pushing the button. It took about a minute and a half, but eventually the Walk light went on. Nicki bustled across the street, eager to get back to the beach and the party...

...hearing only when she was halfway across the squealing of tires behind her. She turned and gasped: a dark car was coldly accelerating right at her...!


	3. A Warning

Nicki recovered from the shock quickly enough to realize it would do no good to just stand there with the car speeding right at her. Quickly she dove back towards the curb, landing on the hood of a car parked nearby. Fortunately, it was enough; the car missed her and continued zooming off into the night. Nicki turned to try and see the license plate, but it was already too far out of range.

She took a deep breath, her heart rate slowly returning to normal as she slid back to her feet and bustled across the street as fast as she could. Had what just happened been just an accident, or had the driver had something more sinister in mind for her, she had to wonder?

No, she shook her head, that was just being paranoid. It couldn't possibly be related to her conversation with Lynn in the hospital. Who else would have known she was in there if it was that dire? The incident wouldn't even be in the papers until tomorrow morning anyway. Yes, it was likely just some drunk in a hurry, she decided firmly.

Still, she reasoned, the sooner she got to the party on the beach, the better. She quickly threaded her way down a few side streets until she reached the harbor. She walked briskly along the sea wall, her eyes already catching sight of the campfires blazing on the sand about a quarter mile ahead.

Something else caught her eye, though, in the glow of the lights alongside the wall in an inlet near the beginning of the beach, a section not watched all that thoroughly by the lifeguards due to it's extremity on the beach, she knew. She came to a stop and squinted hard at the object, which glistened white in the lights. It was a small, smashed section of a boat hull floating against the rocks listlessly, a somber testament to a boat's painful demise. "_Contrail_," she read off the shattered hull. The name didn't ring any bells for her, and yet somehow she thought it was familiar. She thought hard. Should she contact the authorities about it?

What for, she shook her head? Just because it was floating here broken didn't mean the boat had been the victim of foul play. It could well have been a natural accident for all she knew. Better wait and find out more before jumping the gun.

Shrugging, she continued onward down the beach. Loud music filled the air as she got closer. Young people her age were dancing and eating around the campfires-not to mention doing a couple of other things that made Nicki rather uncomfortable. "Hey Nicki, over here," she heard Jessie call to her. Her friend was on a blanket near a large dune, hot dog in hand. "The lady feeling any better?" the redhead asked her as she sat down next to her on the blanket.

"She's sad that her husband's dead, but she'll be all right," Nicki told her, "Say, I have to ask, did you or Sam ever hear about a boat called the _Contrail_ wrecking lately? I may have just found the wreckage at the end of the beach."

"_Contrail_?" Jessie's brow furled, "Nope, can't say I have. Sam," she called to Samantha, walking towards them as well, "Hear anything about a _Contrail_?"

"You know, I kind of remember something, but I don't think it was that important. Hi Nicki," Samantha sat down next to her, "Have a hot dog; Greg Vetter cooked them up pretty good."

"Sure," Nicki took it from her and took a bite. "Not bad at all," she agreed, "In fact, I might ask..."

She trailed off as she heard the sound of scuffling coming from beyond the dune. "What's going on here?" she mused, rising up again and walking towards the shouting. She came to a stop when she saw what was going on: a half dozen or so large boys were surrounding none other than Adam. The largest was pulling his arm behind his back while the others were taunting him on. "Too scared to fight back, Marshton?" the largest boy was snickering, "I told you never to come around this beach again while I'm here, and..."

"STOP!" Nicki's voice rang out loudly. The bullies all turned to face her in surprise. "Coronado Beach Lifeguard's Department," she said strongly, stomping forward, "Let him go right now!"

The bullies broke into laughter. "You think we're scared of a girl!?" the largest one was in hysterics, "Oh this night keeps getting...!"

Livid, Nicki grabbed his arm and twisted it hard much like he himself was twisting Adam's. "OOWWW!" he howled, shocked.

"Not so nice when you have to put up with it yourself, is it!?" she snapped in his ear. Sensing another was coming up behind her, she swung and decked him hard in the chest with her free hand, then sent first him and then another sprawling with sharp kicks. The others stayed in place, too shocked by what had happened to their associates. "Now, all of you off this beach, right now, or I'm reporting all over you to the police!" she barked at them.

"You be sorry for this someday!" the leader warned as he slipped out of her hold, but she could see the fear in his face as well. He and the boys ran off. Adam turned to her with a smile. "My hero," he half-joked.

"Are you all right?" she asked him, taking a look at his arm, which didn't seem to be broken or injured openly at all, "You want me to call the cops on them anyway?"

"Nah, they're cowards underneath; they won't come back here if they think they'll get a thrashing," Adam told her, "I am glad you showed up, Nicki."

"Well, I have a duty to protect this beach and all on it," she said.

"I appreciate a woman with a strong sense of responsibility," he smiled warmly at her, making her blush deeply. "And I glad you showed up for this too," he glanced back to the knots of his friends on the sand below, "For a while I thought you weren't going to make it."

"Oh I was coming; I just had to take care of something first; you know the woman from earlier today who..."

"Oh THERE you are, Adam," came a most unpleasant voice. Nicki grimaced to see Heather Rundle climbing up to the top of the dunes. While many boys may have thought Heather beautiful, Nicki knew from experience it was only skin-deep. Heather in fact shot her a very harsh glare when she saw her standing next to Adam. "I've been looking all over for you," she told him, "Come on, we're going to limbo now; you don't want to miss that, do you?"

"Well..."

"I thought so. Come on Adam, don't be shy now," she took his hand and tugged him back down towards the waterline, turning to mouth nastily back at Nicki, "_He's mine, so stay away if you know what's good for you!"_ Nicki sighed and shook her head. She knew she had no chance with Adam, but it would have preferred Heather not be so overprotective of her claim on him. That wasn't the way she thought a real relationship should work.

With another sigh, she trudged back to the beach herself. "Everything under control now, Nicki?" Samantha asked her as she plopped back down next to her and Jessie.

"Yep, everything's under control now; just a fight that I got stopped," Nicki took a sip of soda, not willing to go too in-depth about the circumstances.

"So what else happened there when you visited the lady?" the brunette inquired.

"Well,..." Nicki laid out everything she hadn't already said to the two of them, leaving out her encounter with the car, which may have been irrelevant anyway. "But the funny thing was," she finished, "She mentioned something about glowing creatures from the deep that came on board. Does that make any sense to either of you?"

"Green creatures?" Samantha frowned, "That sounds crazy to me. Jessie?"

"Well," Jessie seemed a bit surprised, "There IS the old legend of the underwater guardians..."

"What legend?" Nicki asked, intrigued.

"Well, Jessie sighed, skeptical, "The story around these parts is that when some old conquistador whose name I forget was sailing around here back in the 1500s, he found some gold on the beach in an old iron chest covered in seaweed, as if it had washed ashore. Being greedy for gold, he and his crew took it and shoved off. But apparently, it belonged to some underwater race that lives in the ocean, or so the story goes, and they have a pet sea monster at their disposal. That night, while sailing back to Spain, the creatures and their pet attacked the ship, which went down with all hands lost. Since then, some people have claimed to have been attacked over the centuries by the creatures, or seen the monster in the ocean. But of course, Nicki, it's all just a legend. I mean, who would ever believe in something so silly being out there? Surely if there were something that big or that strange out there, we would have found positive proof at some point by now, wouldn't we?"

No sooner were the words out of her mouth than from the dark horizon over the sea came a tremendous splashing sound that made the girls' heads turn in unison-as well, Nicki noticed, as everyone else on the beach. What sounded vaguely like cracking followed before everything died down. Nicki squinted hard into the darkness, but nothing could be seen. "That didn't sound normal," she mused.

"Come on Nicki, don't start just because I told you that legend!" Jessie protested, "That was probably just a whale or something surfacing and calling; I'll bet you a hundred bucks on it; am I right, Sam!?"

"It might have been a whale," Samantha nodded somewhat uncertainly, "Although I can't remember any of them being that loud."

Nicki thought the same as well. While it might have been a whale, something didn't quite seem right. She needed to check a few things out once they went back to the beach house for the night.

* * *

"_Contrail_," Nicki mused out loud as she typed the name into the search engine of Samantha's laptop later that night. Surely there would have to be something online about the boat, she reasoned. Sure enough, the first title to pop up was from the local paper. SEARCH CALLED OFF FOR AREA YOUTH AFTER NO TRACE OF BOAT FOUND, read the logline. Nicki clicked on the link to read the whole article, dated three months ago:

_Rescue teams have called off the hunt for the son of a local businessman after a thorough search of the surrounding coastline turned up nothing. Tim Reilly, 17, was last seen piloting the family yacht, the Contrail, out of dock in the St. Catherine port for an afternoon on the ocean, heading due east. When he was not heard from by nightfall, his family called the authorities, but intense searching have turned up no body or trace of the ship. While a storm did form later in the afternoon, experts don't think weather could have played a part in the disappearance. _

_Tim's father, Alexander Reilly, was too emotionally distraught over what was likely his son's death to give an interview with this reporter. He later released a statement to this paper that he is refusing to give up hope until Tim's body_ _is found_.

Nicki felt a pang in her chest. Tim Reilly was the exact same age as her. To think that something like this could have happened to someone she'd know on a day-to-day basis had she lived in Coronado Beach full time...

But there was more she had to know, so she buried her emotions and turned back to the computer to read the rest:

_...authorities are saying there's probably no connection to the recent disappearance last month of another boat in the Surf County area. The boat of Arnold and Edna Cochrane vanished off Point Lawrence in March without a trace, and nothing has been heard from the couple since then, although it is believed they went down in a storm that had sprung up the previous night. Authorities are nonetheless asking anyone going boating in the near future to exercise caution in the event this is more than just a series of_ _unrelated accidents_.

Nicki's brow furled. It had rained the night before when Lynn and her husband's boat had been attacked as well, which would be a pattern of some kind if extended to the Cochranes and Tim Reilly. What did it mean, if anything? And had there been any other suspicious shipwrecks since then?

She typed in SURF COUNTY SHIPWRECKS in the search bar. Only references to the Cochrane and Reilly disappearance could be found, however, so apparently Lynn's boat had been the most recent incident after the Reilly disappearance. Her mind thus shifted back to Jessie's relating of the local legend of sea creatures. It seemed absurd, but was it true, she had to wonder? Had all these boaters somehow angered creatures of the deep?

Regardless, she had information the authorities might need, she she bustled over to the phone and dialed the police station. "Coronado Beach Police Department, how may we help you?" asked the receptionist.

"Hello, I may have some information relating to the Tim Reilly case up in St. Catherine," Nicki said softly so not to wake Jessie, sound asleep on the sofa nearby, "Earlier tonight, I saw part of his boat floating around in the inlets near the sea wall, around the Eighth Avenue terminus. It may have gone out with the tide by now, but you can tell the St. Catherine authorities that Tim Reilly's boat was wrecked one way or another."

"OK, and who can we saying is phoning this in?"

"Um," Nicki's mind flashed back to the car almost running her down, "Actually, I'd prefer to remain anonymous, if it's OK."

"All right, we'll look into it and see what comes to light. Thank you for your cooperation."

"Thank you," Nicki returned the favor as she hung up. Her brow furled. Had she done the right thing remaining anonymous?

Well, she thought as she closed the laptop's Internet screen out and hit the shutdown button, that was a problem to solve another day; at the moment she was too tired out to look any further. She pushed the laptop closed and walked briskly towards the bedroom she was sharing with Samantha, who was also sound asleep herself by now. Nicki climbed up onto the hammock in the corner that was hers for the summer. She rocked gently in it from side to side as she stared out the window into the night sky, barely illuminated by a setting first quarter moon, and listened to the waves gently crashing against the shore. Was there really something supernatural out there in the surf, she wondered as her eyes started closing, or was it all just in her mystery-eager mind?

* * *

The first rays of the rising sun shone warmly on her face as she woke up in the morning. She stretched and hopped to the floor. Six thirty, she noticed on her watch; right on time. She and her friends started their shift at eight. Plenty of time for breakfast and the usual morning jog they were in the habit of doing. Indeed, the rest of the beach house was deserted, so it was clear Jessie and Samantha were already up and out on their own jogs. No matter, Nicki thought to herself as she walked towards the front door to get the mail, which would have been delivered about five minutes ago, she could easily go on her own jog after breakfast.

The mailbox was fairly full when she reached into it. Carrying all the letters inside, she set them on the table and looked them over one at a time. Bills, more bills, a magazine subscription, some sweepstakes wanting Samantha's parents to sign up for the grand prize...

And one last envelope that didn't have a return address. Nicki frowned at this one; who could have sent this? carefully she tore it open and lifted out the letter inside...

...and she almost immediately dropped the letter from shock. For the letter was covered in seaweed and featured a single word, written clearly in blood: BEWARE.


	4. Every Search Carries a Risk

The sound of footsteps crunching through the sand brought Nicki out of her shocked stupor. "That you, Nicki?" came Samantha's voice approaching the door. Nicki quickly crumpled up the threatening letter and tossed it into the garbage can; no point in worrying her friends any more than they had to be, she decided. The door opened a few seconds later. "Sleep well?" Samantha asked her as she and Jessie came in.

"Uh, pretty good," Nicki said quickly, "Sorry I missed the jog today, though. Um," she added quickly, "I was wondering; after we punch in for today, maybe we'd better go on out to where we heard that crashing last night and see what happened."

"Nicki, is it really that important!?" Jessie sighed, "I'm telling you it was just a whale or..."

"Still, even if it was, it sounded like the whale crashed into something," Nicki argued, "It's worth a look if nothing else, and if it is nothing, we can just come right back in, right Sam?"

She turned to the brunette for aid. "Well," Samantha scratched her head, "I suppose we could. After all, if something did crash, the debris could be a hazard on the beach. Better check with Mr. Smarr first, though. Speaking of which," she glanced at the clock, "we'd better get dressed; our shift starts pretty soon."

* * *

"I still say we're looking too much into this," Jessie continued grumbling as the three of them strolled along the beach--already filling up with the early morning swimming crowd--towards their lifeguard tower, "Mr. Smarr isn't going to like it if we go out here for nothing."

"IF we find nothing," Nicki corrected her.

"Maybe I should have just kept quiet about that legend of the sea creatures," the redhead continued grousing as she reached the ramp into the tower, "I put too much into your mind about..."

Suddenly she let out a low cry. Nicki glanced over her shoulder to see what the problem was and gasped herself: lying on the floor before them was a dead dog, apparently stabbed with some sharp instrument judging by the wound on its back. "How did this get in here!?" she managed to say.

"And who would treat an animal like this!?" Samantha was equally appalled. She grabbed for the radio on the table. "Mr. Smarr, it's Samantha; someone killed a dog and left it in here!" she informed him as calmly as she could muster.

"A what!?" their supervisor sounded equally shocked on the other end of the line.

"Dead dog," Nicki leaned took the radio off her, "See if you can get the authorities to come take a look at it."

"The authorities for a dead dog?" he sounded puzzled.

"We just think it's a good idea," Nicki told him, "Oh, Mr. Smarr, also, if it's OK, we heard something out in the ocean last night; it sounded like an accident of some kind. We'd like to check it out if that's OK."

"Accident?" Smarr sounded a bit worried, "Well, if you really want to make sure...yeah, I guess that would be fine. Make sure someone covers your section of the beach while you're out, though."

"Right," Nicki switched frequencies. "Mandy, Allison, it's Nicki," she said to the next set of lifeguards down the beach, "Sam, Jessie and I are going to check something out; hold for us till we get back."

"Gotcha," came the reply. Nicki switched the radio off. "OK, let's go do it," she told her friends, jogging down the tower walkway and making a right towards the lifeguards' marina. "What do you suppose happened with that dog?" Samantha sounded a little worried, "And why would anyone do that, like I asked earlier?"

"I have no idea, Sam, but who's to say if it was meant for us at all?" Nicki shrugged. Deep down, though, she wasn't quite as sure. Had the dog been a second warning not to keep looking into the apparent string of accidents? If so, who was sending them? Would she do well to be careful from here on?

She tried to put these thoughts out of her mind as she climbed into the first ocean patrol boat they approached. "Tie off," she instructed her friends, starting the engine.

"So where are we supposed to be looking, anyway?" Jessie still sounded skeptical as she jumped in after Samantha, "It was dark last night, and I don't think any of us really saw anything that would be of reference."

"Well, judging from where we are now, it sounded like it came from over that way," Nicki pointed to the southeast, "So we might as well head that way. Hold on."

She opened the boat full throttle and steered it quickly in the direction she'd mentioned. Gradually the beach sunk out of sight behind them. The wind was starting to pick up a little off the ocean, she thought, and cirrus clouds were starting to wisp in over the horizon. The side effects of the hurricane, she supposed. At least it wouldn't do them any harm at Coronado Beach.

For a good five minutes, they zipped towards the open ocean, Nicki scanning the horizon for anything suspicious. The ocean, however, looked completely calm and devoid of any sign that anything out of the ordinary had taken place at all. She glanced back at the land as she cut the engine and listened for anything that could suggest an accident of some kind. This should be the location of where the accident had taken place, but there was no crime scene at all.

"Well Nicki, looks like I was right, nothing out here," Jessie told her with just a little tinge of triumph, "Can we go on back to base now?"

"I could swear something happened out here," Nicki scanned all over, searching for anything out of the ordinary.

"Well apparently you were just trying to find an extraordinary explanation for something mundane," the redhead said, "Now there's..."

"Hold on," Samantha held up her hand. She was staring at a rocky outcropping about a half mile away, "It looks like something's floating around in that inlet there."

"Sam, don't encourage her please, I just want..." Jessie was drowned out as Nicki restarted the engine and zoomed the boat towards the rocks. Her eyes widened, as did her companions. Floating there was the debris of a wrecked boat, and an oil slick. "Nothing to see?" she inquired to Jessie, trying not to gloat.

"Well..." Jessie stammered for an answer, "Sure, Nicki, it's a wreckage, but there's no proof it was a sea monster. After all, these people could have gotten lost and crashed into these rocks and then..."

"Do you hear something?" Nicki held up her hand. She could make out a low rumble from underneath them, as if something was rising up from under the boat. There was no time for Jessie or Samantha to answer this, for seconds later something slammed into the boat with tremendous force, sending the three of them flying into the air.


	5. Love and Death

Cartwheeling head over heels, Nicki landed on her back with a hard splash as wooden and fiberglass splinters landed all around her. For a moment she simply lay still, the sharp waves from the wake of whatever had slammed into the boat rocking her wildly in the water. She moved her limbs and found no obvious injuries to herself. "Sam? Jessie?" she called out, looking around.

"Yeah, we're OK, Nicki," Samantha swam out from behind the largest chunk of their boat's wreckage. She stared down at the water below them, now becoming calmer, and with no visible sign of anything below. "What in the world happened here?" she asked out loud, still looking white in the face from their sudden accident.

"I have no idea, Sam, and I vote we just get out of here before whatever it is comes back," Jessie also looked unnerved. "Just look at this!" she lamented, staring at the wreckage of their boat strewn everywhere, "Mr. Smarr's going to kill us when we come back with this all wrecked! We'll probably have to pay for it too, I'll bet!"

"Well, at least the radio still seems to be OK," Samantha pointed to it, still hooked in place on the fuselage and out of the water. She reached for it and activated it. "All units, we've had a bit of an accident out here; we're going to need someone to pick us up," she said to everyone on the beach, "We're at," she glanced around, "Near the ring of rocks about two miles from the old prison on DeSoto Island (indeed, Nicki could make out the decaying Spanish fortress, over four hundred years old, in the distance). Be advised also there's also debris from another boat wreck of some kind out here, so let recovery teams know there's stuff to salvage besides our own boat."

"Roger that, we'll send someone out to pick you up," the dispatcher said. Nicki heaved herself up onto the fuselage and grabbed hold of what had been the front railing. Jessie and Samantha did the same, and the three of them gently kicked towards the beach, about a mile or so away. "Don't say it, Nicki," Jessie held a hand to her face, "Don't say this was the work of a sea monster. It could easily have been a whale or a shark or something like that."

"Maybe," Nicki mused.

"Just stop that, OK!?" the redhead begged her, "You're starting to freak me out with this whole business! Isn't she freaking you out too, Sam!?" she pleaded with Samantha to support her.

"We'll see what else happens," Samantha seemed non-committal, "We didn't disprove that theory either out here. Oh, here they come," she noticed a boat speeding towards them. "Over here," she waved the other lifeguards down.

* * *

Much as Jessie had feared, Mr. Smarr was rather upset that one of the county's rather expensive lifeguarding boats had been wrecked. While he hadn't punished the three of them, he had rather strongly advised them not to borrow another boat until further notice. Nicki had listened in outside the door before heading back to the tower, having seen the recovery crew bringing in the remains of their boat and the other boat they'd found. Apparently, Smarr had said while on the phone with someone with the county sheriff, the other boat had been a pleasure yacht rented from the same marina Tim Reilly's boat had been from by a group of college students on one last summer fling. And they hadn't been heard from since they'd left port either. At this point, Smarr had started for the door, perhaps suspecting he was being listened in on, and Nicki had been forced to dart around the back of the building and make her way back to the tower.

The rest of the day went by relatively uneventfully. The wind was picking up harder as Nicki and her friends left the tower for the night and trudged back to the beach house. Nicki's mind was racing, not least of all about how horribly she would have felt had either Samantha or Jessie been hurt in the accident. Once inside the beach house, she walked into the bathroom to change, but instead found herself staring at the mirror. A set of worried blue eyes looked back at her. Was it really worth it to figure out what had happened to endanger their lives, she thought to herself? And what if Jessie was right all along, and it was nothing. Perhaps everything that was going on was a string of unrelated accidents.

She knew what she had to say. After changing out of her lifeguard uniform (as it was cooler out now with a cloudier sky and brisk breeze, she put on a set of pants), she walked slowly into the den. Her friends were slouched in chairs, watching the TV. "I, uh," she cleared her throat slowly, "I'm sorry I put you guys in harm's way. If the two of you think I should stop looking into what's going on, I'll stop."

"It's entirely your decision, Nicki," Samantha seemed sympathetic, "I know you look into these things because you care for people."

"Yeah, I know your heart's in the right place, Nicki, and you just want to help," Jessie did give her a smile before continuing, a bit grumpier, "But from here on, please try and be more careful; I don't want to be almost killed again by..."

There came a sudden knock at the door. The redhead jumped up to get it. "Well hello," she sounded quite pleased. Nicki turned and froze up to see Adam at the door. Part of her felt like hiding, at least until Adam spoke up. "Is Nicki in?" he asked Jessie.

"Uh, yes, um, I'm, I'm here," Nicki found her voice after a moment, "What, um, what do you want?"

"I just wanted to ask if you wanted to take a walk on the beach," he told her.

"Just the two of you?" Jessie looked rather disappointed.

"Sorry Jessie, just her and I," Adam shook his head.

"Well, um, I, guess that would be fine," Nicki was amazed he would offer her that, "I'll, uh, I'll be right out. Just, just, uh, leave the light on for me, guys," she told her friends as she bustled out the door, "I won't be too long, I don't think."

She gave Adam a nervous smile as they walked over the dunes together. "Why me?" she asked him, "Why would you want...?"

"I'll explain in time," he said, giving her a smile of his own that made her feel like melting. "Word is you had a bit of an accident earlier; are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, no damage at all," she shivered as the breeze off the sea picked up in the dwindling twilight. "Boy it got colder quick," she remarked, glad she had put on pants in the end.

"I'll say," Adam was shivering himself. "So, what were you looking for out there that made you wreck the boat, as they've said?"

"Well," Nicki thought it over and decided he might as well know, "You know how I went to see the woman who I pulled out of the ocean last night...?"

She explained everything to him. Adam looked surprisingly melancholy. "What's wrong?" she asked him, a little concerned herself.

"Well, it happens Tim Reilly and I were pretty good friends," Adam confessed, "He lived here up till about four years ago when his family moved up to St. Catherine. We'd often go sailing together out on the ocean when we were younger. When I heard he'd disappeared at sea, I was crushed. I hoped they'd find out what did happen to him, but nothing's come up since then. You have any idea what happened?"

"Not concretely," Nicki shook her head, "If I do find anything out, though, you'll be the first to know."

She glanced around at the deserted beach. "Does Heather know you're here?" she asked, a little worried, "I'd hate to have to face her down if she thought..."

"Truthfully, Nicki, I don't care what Heather thinks anymore," Adam grumbled, looking disgusted, "In fact, the next time I see her, I'm breaking it off between us. The Heather I know now isn't the Heather I fell in love with at first. She's narrow-minded, spiteful, and overbearing; I have to do whatever she wants whenever she wants, and I can't argue it. If I'd known she was like that when we first met, I would have steered clear of her in the first place."

"Oh, well, sorry it didn't work out," Nicki told him, secretly glad Heather was about to get her comeuppance. Adam came to a stop. "This seems far enough," he told her, sitting down on the sand and gesturing for her to sit with him. She slid to the sand and stared into the darkening horizon. The waves seemed to be getting larger as the tide came in. "Where're you from again, Nicki?" he asked her.

"Shadyside," she said.

"Ah, I see," he smiled, "When are you going back?"

"After the last weekend before Labor Day. School starts the next week. Hard to believe it's my senior year," she sighed, her gaze falling on the horizon, "It goes by so quickly; it seems like just yesterday I was still a little girl eagerly waiting to unwrap my Christmas presents."

"Yeah, time goes by too quickly these days," Adam agreed, "I'm not sure what I want to do when I graduate this year yet. How about you?"

"Probably into nursing or something like that; I just like being able to help people," she confessed.

"So I've seen all summer long. That's why you make a great lifeguard," he was smiling again. "Listen, Nicki," he said quickly, sounding a little nervous, "I've got something I'd like to say before we head on back. Close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Don't want to spoil the surprise. Go on, close them," he urged her. Nicki complied, wondering what this could be about. She felt something soft and almost felty slip into her hand. "OK, open them," Adam urged her. She opened her eyes and almost jumped in surprise. Resting in her palm was a case containing a beautiful diamond ring. "I've been thinking about this all summer ever since you came here to Coronado Beach," Adam told her, a warm look on his face, "When you stood up for me last night, I knew you were the right one, and that I should go ahead with this, so I'll say it now: I love you, Nicki Price, and here's my testimonial."

"Oh Adam," she was at a loss for words, but nonetheless tried to find them. "Oh Adam, I...I don't know what to say," she gushed, tears of joy starting to flow, "No one's ever done anything like this for me before. To think you really think of me this way..."

"Why shouldn't I? Why shouldn't any boy feel exhilarated in your presence?" he pulled closer to her, "You're everything a boy could ask for, Nicki; you're sweet, caring, hard-working, and you're beautiful as well-yes, it's true Nicki," he smiled warmly at her when she sniffed in happy surprise, "You're easily the most beautiful girl in the world, and don't let anyone ever tell you any different."

"Oh Adam..." she had no idea what else to say, and so let her actions speak for her: she threw her arms around him and joined with him in a kiss, the first of her life. She didn't care at all about sea monsters or boat attacks or anything at the moment. She wanted to savor the first real love she'd ever known, with a boy who clearly loved her in turn.

The tide started lapping at her legs; it was starting to come in again. She paid no attention, though; she didn't want the moment to end, and apparently neither did Adam, who continued kissing her while still hugging her. How long the two of them embraced, she had had no idea, and only really started to loosen up when something brushed against her leg in the surf. "I never thought I'd kiss anyone like that," she told Adam dreamily as she broke off the kiss and leaned back, "I hope we can..."

"Nicki!" he looked abruptly panicked, and was staring down at the surf behind her. Nicki turned to follow his gaze...and let out a bloodcurdling scream that echoed over the whole beach. For floating right next to her was a severed human head, its face frozen forever in an image of pure terror.


	6. Sailing into Danger

"That's it, just bag it all up for the lab, boys," the sheriff for Surf County instructed his men as they sealed up the evidence that had come ashore. "OK, I take it you two were the ones that made the call," he walked over to where Nicki and Adam were standing, "Your name, Miss?"

"Nicole Price," she told him, still shaken from the experience, which had only gotten worse when even more body parts had floated ashore after the head, "I prefer Nicki, though."

"I see. And you?" he asked Adam.

"Adam Marshton, sir," Adam also looked pale from the experience.

"You said you were just sitting here on the beach and the dead bodies just sort of floated up to you?" he checked his notes.

"Yes, sir," Adam nodded, "Actually, sir, Nicki here has been sort of investigating a little herself; she has a bit of a theory for you."

"Did you have to tell him!?" Nicki whispered to him, nervous.

"What theory, Miss Price?" the sheriff glanced at her. Nicki had a feeling she'd better tell the whole story anyway. She slowly laid out her theory that the appearance of the dismembered bodies were related to the wreckage she'd discovered earlier in the day and the disappearance of Tim Reilly and the Cochranes. "Well, let me say first and foremost I don't approve of junior detectives in my district," the sheriff shook his head disapprovingly, "I don't want to be responsible for endangering a minor, young lady. However, I must admit, your theory does seem to make some sense-apart from this whole sea monster nonsense, it all seems quite plausible."

"Hey sheriff," a deputy came jogging up, "We lifted the prints off a couple of the hands; they match those college kids that disappeared the other day."

"I see," the sheriff nodded, a light coming on in his face, "Well Todd, we might be in the middle of something big here. Call the Coast Guard and tell them we'd like their cooperation in searching the ocean off Surf County; we may be in the middle of a major set of felonies here."

"Right sir," the deputy bustled off. The sheriff turned back to Nicki and Adam. "Now you two just step back and let us handle this from here on," he advised them sternly, "We can crack this on our own from here. But I would like to thank you two for bringing it to our attention. Now run along and have a good night."

"OK sir, thank you," Nicki told him. She was silent as she and Adam started walking back towards the beach house. Sea monsters or not, this looked graver than it had appeared even a few hours ago. There had been eight college kids on that boat, she knew from listening in on Mr. Smarr's conversation from earlier in the day, and only the remains of three had washed up next to her, she'd overheard the police's official count. Likely the rest were in the same condition as their friends that had been recovered. Had the Cochranes and Tim met the same fate? It chilled her blood to think a human being would be capable of such wanton cruelty.

"You OK, Nicki?" Adam asked her, concerned, "You're really quiet..."

"Oh, yeah, I'm, I'm fine, Adam," she said quickly, "It's just...that scared me; did it scare you?"

"Incredibly," he shivered, "I hope that's one sight I never see again."

"Me too," she admitted, "To tell the truth, I'll be glad right now to step back and let the police handle it from here on; I think I don't really want to know any more about what's going on here."

"If you ask me, that's probably a good idea, Nicki," Adam came to a stop atop the last dune before the beach house. He gently took her hand. "You going to be all right here by yourself tonight?" he asked her, "If you'd like me to stay and..."

"No, I'll be fine, Adam, but thank you," she smiled at him.

"Well if you do want me at all, here's my number," he dug out a piece of paper and wrote it down, "Call at any hour. And please, call after you've gone back home. Now that I know you, I don't think I ever want to truly say goodbye to you again."

"Neither do I, Adam," she smiled warmly. The two of them kissed again. Adam dug out the ring and slipped it gently onto her finger. "So you'll remember me always," he told her kindly, "Have a nice night, Nicki."

"You too," she waved goodbye to him as he walked up the dune and out of sight. She sighed happily. Even with the horrible experience, she'd found true love, and it was entirely worth the horrors to have it.

Still, the unpleasant of the severed limbs stayed with her as she walked inside. "Hey you guys," she called to her friends, turning into the den, "You should know I just had a brush with...What's wrong?" she asked them. For they were staring at the television in the den, looking like they'd just seen a ghost.

"We've got trouble, Nicki, big trouble," Samantha pointed at the TV screen, "The hurricane just made an unexpected turn west. It'll impact within fifty miles of Coronado Beach, if not right on top of it, by this time tomorrow night."

* * *

"No, no, you can't go in the ocean today," Nicki called loudly to a boy who was coming close to the waterline late the next afternoon. The surf had definitively risen overnight and the waves coming ashore now looked large and threatening. Moreover, all day darker clouds had been streaming in from the ocean; those on the horizon now looked very threatening from her position on the lifeguard tower.

"Any word?" she called to Samantha at the radio inside the tower. Her friend had stuck alongside it all day, listening intently for the expected order to evacuate the beach, which truthfully Nicki thought was taking longer than it was safe to.

"No, nothing yet," the brunette shook her head, "Probably shouldn't be too much longer the way things are going out here now," she gestured at the sky out to sea. "Jessie," she called to the redhead as she came up the ramp, huffing, "Did you get through to your parents?"

"Yeah, and they'll be OK driving us to my aunt's in Flagston; that should be out of the hurricane's path," Jessie told the two of them, "But I think we'd better be out on the road immediately after the evacuation order comes out, or we'll never get there before the storm hits, so it's really a good thing we loaded up last night."

Nicki nodded in agreement. Once it was clear Coronado Beach was in a storm warning, the three of them had stuffed Samantha's car with everything perishable and driven it over to the Greenbriars' a few blocks away so they could leave with Jessie's family for safety at a moment's notice. She was surprised her parents hadn't called yet to check on her, but then again maybe they weren't entirely sure she was in the danger zone at the moment...

"Excuse me, miss," one of the few bathers on the beach called to her, towel in hand, "I take it no swimming is allowed today?"

"Nope," Nicki shook her head, "You'll have to..."

"You!" came a murderous voice behind her. It was Heather, looking livid. "I'll kill you!" she threatened Nicki, "You can't take Adam away from me!"

"Well Heather, it's time you woke up to the fact he doesn't like being suffocated and pushed around by you," Nicki said more than a little coolly, glad that Adam had put Heather in her place at last.

"Yeah," Jessie snorted from the tower, "It's time to wake up to the fact no one likes you, Heather."

"I'll kill you!" Heather jumped on top of Nicki and started swinging punches. "Hey, hey, stop it!" came Mr. Smarr's furious voice from behind them. His arms reached in and pulled Heather roughly off Nicki. "Stop it!" the lifeguard chief upbraided her, "I won't stand for fighting on my beach for anything! Now get back to your post; just because there's almost no one here today, that doesn't mean you should just walk off, Miss Rundle!"

Heather glared at him, but skulked off. "Thank you, Mr. Smarr," Nicki thanked him, climbing to her feet again.

"Any time, Nicki," he told her. "Jessie, Samantha," he called to her friends, "I'm going to need a some extra hands putting up those no swimming signs along the waterline further up; think you two could lend me a hand?"

"Guess so, Mr. Smarr," Samantha climbed down the walkway, Jessie in tow, "How about Nicki?"

"Nicki can stay here and keep watch, just in case something should happen, and I know you'll do quite well, right Nicki?" he smiled at her.

"I'll do my best, Mr. Smarr," she told him.

"That's all I need to know. Samantha, Jessie, let's get to work," he led the two of them down the beach. Nicki walked back up to the tower and dug out her Claudia Waterman book again. She was barely able to concentrate on the pages, however, her attention diverted to the dangerously black sky on the horizon and the distant but intense rumblings of thunder. It looked like one of the central parts of the storm, if not the exact center was bearing down on Coronado Beach, and she was amazed they hadn't been given the evacuation order yet. If it took much longer, they and the Greenbriars wouldn't be even close to getting out of town in time.

"SOS, SOS!" came a sudden frantic cry on the radio. Nicki bolted upright and knocked her chair over rushing to activate it. "This is the Coronado Beach lifeguard staff, over!?" she called.

"Send help quick; we're foundering out here!" a desperate voice cried, "About three miles offshore near the northern end of Coronado Beach! We're going to be swamped at any minute; help us!"

"Don't worry, sir; we'll get to you as soon as we can!" Nicki told him, anxiety in her voice. She switched to the general lifeguard frequency. "Attention everyone, this is Nicki in Tower Twelve; there's a boat in trouble; I'm going to try and help!" she told all the other lifeguards, "Stay on standby; I'll call for backup if I need it!"

She switched off before anyone could counter her. What she was about to do might be foolhardy with a storm about to hit, but she couldn't leave people to die out in the ocean, even with a hurricane coming.

She rushed from the tower towards the dock where the lifeguards' boats were moored. Even with Mr. Smarr's demand she not go out again, she felt it was a rule worth breaking with lives at stake. She untied the nearest boat, leaped in, started the engine, and zoomed out to sea in the general direction the imperiled seafarer had given her. Almost immediately, she got an impression of the force of the storm coming their way; large waves rose up beyond the breakwater, forcing Nicki to gun it to get past them before they came crashing down on top of her. Even when not in the path of the waves, the ocean churned roughly, making her feel sick already as the boat swayed from side to side violently. Still, she gunned it forward; no one was going to die on her watch.

The first raindrops were starting to fall when the boat came into sight, half-overturned and drifting in the surf. Her heart in her throat, she pulled up alongside it and dropped anchor. Hopefully everyone was still all right. She leaped on board and ran into the cabin. "Hello!?" she called out worriedly, glancing around the cabin, which appeared to be empty, "Coronado Beach lifeguards, are you all right!?"

There was no answer and no sign of human life. Worriedly, Nicki threw open the hatch the engine room. No one there either. Had the caller drowned already or been swept out to sea? She ran to the far railing and looked out into the ocean...

When suddenly without warning, a hand was clamped over her mouth from behind. Another hand seized Nicki around the waist and wrestled her motionless. "Don't even think of fighting, missy," a sinister voice warned as a large, sharp knife was flashed right in Nicki's face, "You're my prisoner now, and you're staying right here with me."


	7. Kidnapped!

_"It was a trap!!"_ Nicki realized in horror, "_They set this whole accident up to lure me out here alone!"_

Steeling herself, she delivered a powerful kick to her captor's shin. He howled and released her. Nicki shoved him to the floor and dashed out of the cabin--only to be seized around the waist by a second man. "Going somewhere!?" he snickered, "I don't think so."

"Let go of me!!" she sank her teeth into his hand, making her release her too. Kicking him in the chest for good measure, she lunged for the railing and her boat, but a pair of powerful hands grabbed her by the ankles, tripping her. He roughly shoved her head down under the water for a minute, perhaps to take the fight out of her, and started dragging her backwards as she toppled to the deck. "HELP!!" she screamed at the radio on her boat, begging that it was turned on, "This is Nicki Price, I'm at twenty-four degrees north, seventy-nine degrees west; I'm being kidnapped; send all...!"

A hand was clamped over her mouth again. Before she could twist free this time, she felt a handcuff snap around her right wrist. A second snap could be heard now as well. "Just to make sure you don't try anything," the first man whispered in her ear, the other end of the handcuffs now locked to his wrist, she could see. "Come on, you've got a date with the boss. We're ready; come on up," he said into a radio he was holding.

Keeping his hand firmly over Nicki's mouth, he dragged her towards the stern as a loud splashing could be heard. The second man walked behind Nicki, keeping his knife pointed right at her back. Handcuffed to her captor, Nicki had no choice but to be dragged along behind him. She glanced down as he led her over the railing and down the ladder and saw a small submarine had surfaced next to the decoy boat. So THAT was what the loud splashing in the ocean had been the night of the party, she realized, and that was where the supposed sea monster that had wrecked their boat yesterday had been. She only wished she would be able to share this information with someone...

She was pulled towards the hatch and down the ladder into the sub. "Mission accomplished, Rex; we've got her," the first man called to the front of the sub."

"Very good, Edgar," the cold-faced unshaven man at the wheel walked forwards towards Nicki. "Well, well, the pretty blonde lifeguard cared a little too much and walked right into our clutches," he sneered right in her face, "I hope you're not too upset, but it was the only way we could bring you out of the way without arousing too much attention. Have you anything to say for yourself?"

The hand was finally removed from Nicki's mouth. "This is kidnapping!" she snapped defiantly at him, "You can't hold me like...!"

"Shut up!" the second man's hands abruptly closed around her throat. Gasping desperately for air, she whaled at his shoulder with her free hand, but he instead tightened his grip. Her head was starting to spin; if he didn't let go soon...

"OK Chester, we don't want her to suffer too much yet," Rex told the man, who released her throat. She gasped desperately to regain her breath. She frowned at her captors. Her memory was starting to click: just after she had come to Coronado Beach for the summer, there had been a report on the news about a trio of convicts that had escaped from a maximum security prison about thirty miles north of Coronado Beach. Rex the man before her was convicted of multiple counts of violent murder, and had been said to be very dangerous. Edgar the man she was handcuffed to was a professional kidnapper, with ten counts to his credit. The third man Chester had half a dozen first degree assault and batteries to his credit. She was now in the clutches of three men that clearly would have no qualms about doing terrible things to her.

"So you're willing to risk your whole operation here to kidnap me?" she tried to stall for time, yanking hard at her wrist trying to get it out of the handcuff, "Don't you know the heat you'll bring down...?"

"We're not scared of the cops," Chester cracked his knuckles right in front of her, trying to menace her, "They don't know anything. It's you that has to be scared, Blondie. Shouldn't we just kill her now, Rex?" he asked the killer, twirling his knife in his hand, "If we're going to put her out of the way..."

"I want our friend here to suffer a little, just like she made our whole operation suffer all week," Rex interrupted him, advancing towards Nicki with a cruel expression, "I want to teach her a little lesson about meddling she'll never forget."

Without warning, he slapped her hard across the face twice. Nicki grimaced hard and fought to keep the panic at bay. "You're not going to get very far even if you try and get out of here with me," she said as bravely as she could muster, "My friends know exactly where I am; if I'm not back at the beach in ten minutes, they'll be sending out an...!"

"You're bluffing," Rex cut her off, "No one knows where you are. And they won't bother to know, because they're going to think you tipped over in the high surf and drowned going out to try and save a ship in distress. And with no bodies aboard that boat, and with your own overturned, and this storm brewing, it'll be a very easy story to believe on their part. So you're going to have a nice funeral back on the shore, and if you misbehave at all, you'll have an early one yourself."

"You can't do this!" she was fighting hard to suppress her anxiety, yanking harder on the handcuff against hope that she could pull out of it.

"You shouldn't have stuck your nose into what wasn't your business," he growled at her, "You ignored every warning I gave you, sweetheart, so now you're going to pay the price big. OK Edgar, gag her and tie her up real good," he ordered the kidnapper, "Make sure she can't cause us any more trouble at all."

"No please, don't," Nicki begged desperately, the fear starting to overtake her bravado, as Edgar seized her free arm and bent it roughly behind her back. The other end of the handcuffs was locked around her left wrist as well, "You don't have to tie me up, mister; I promise I won't be any trouble; I'm begging you, you don't have to...!"

"Gag her, now," Rex ordered impatiently. Edgar obligingly whipped out a large white cloth. "No, don't!" Nicki rolled her head around, trying frantically to avoid the cloth, "I'll be quiet, I promise, I swear to you; just please don't gag...!"

It was no use; the gag was stuffed roughly between her teeth, then pulled behind her head and tied in a very tight knot. Nicki coughed in shock into the cloth, grimacing as Edgar finished tying it in place as tightly as he could. She felt numb. In her series, Claudia had been gagged a couple of times, but they never mentioned how unnerving the experience could really be. She had to force herself to breath through her nose to avoid choking on the very thick cloth, which pulled at the corners of her mouth intolerably. "Comfy?" Edgar snickered right in her ear.

"_Mmmmmmm!"_she could barely hear her low cry that managed to escape the gag. "Well, better sit back and relax, because we're not done with you yet, blondie," Edgar was hefting several long pieces of heavy rope from underneath the seat next to her and passing it to his partners, "Oh by no means are we done just yet."

Nicki desperately tried squirming across the floor towards the ladder to the hatch, but the three men descended on her before she could reach it. Slowly and methodically, they tied Nicki's shoulders, chest, waist, knees, thighs, and ankles together with the ropes until she couldn't move a muscle in her body. "Let's put you right back here where we can keep an eye on you," Rex dragged her backwards by her hair to the back of the seat, "Edgar, you keep watch on her; kill her if she tries anything. Chester, go set her boat up to look like an accident, and make it quick; I want to get out of here as quickly as we can."

"Right," Chester rushed up the ladder to daylight and freedom. A distant rumble of thunder could be heard as Edgar sat down right in front of Nicki on the floor, aiming the gun he was now holding right at her. "You could have avoided all this if you'd taken our warnings," he reminded her, "Don't entertain any thoughts of getting out of those ropes either; after a decade of tying people up, I'm an expert at making sure no one has the slightest slack to work with. Now the question really is, will you die now or die later? It's all in your hands, missy."

Nicki was too numb to say or do anything. She caught her reflection in his glasses; her eyes were bulging right out of her head, and she was visibly shaking from head to toe. It didn't look good, she conceded in horror to herself. Her only hope was that the radio on her boat had been turned on and someone on the other end had heard her brief cry for help. If not, she was completely at the mercy of these dangerous men.

She heard the decoy boat's engine start up, and then a loud splashing sound before the engine just as suddenly died down. "Done," Chester announced as he slammed the hatch shut and bustled back down the ladder, "Let's take our pretty young friend to her new home."

"You betcha," Rex rushed forward. Nicki heard the sub's engine start, followed by a crackling feeling in her ears as it started diving. She hung her head. She was beyond help now. No one would think of looking for a submarine underwater.

What would happen to her now, she thought with horror to herself? Were they going to kill her when they reached whatever their destination was? Or was she meant for more suffering like Rex had said, maybe even torture? Her heart froze at the thought of the possibilities that awaited her.

"Scared?" Edgar was almost mocking her now, "I would be. No one's lived longer than a few hours since we started this little operation started. Of course, you'll probably have a little more time to work with...unless of course Rex was just getting your hopes up. Oh sure, we haven't always killed everyone right away; if someone was pretty enough or important enough-looking, we'd tie them up and take them along too, but we did them in in the end anyway, just like you will be in time."

He snickered loudly. "Rex was in the navy for a while before they threw him out," he related to her, "He felt if we all stayed at sea, there'd be less chance of us being caught--and we'd be able to continue what we do best. And so for the last month or so after we lifted this baby we're in from the scrapyard just north of here, we've followed our quarries, stalked them until the opportune moment, then come on board, killed them, and took whatever valuables they had. It was the perfect little operation until you had to stick you nose into it."

He abruptly seized her by the shoulders and smacked her face first into the wall, oblivious to her cry of pain. "Hurt!?" he snarled, "It had better hurt, you little brat! This was the perfect job with the perfect cover into you started asking questions! Now that the cops have started patrolling the waters, we can't do anything here! Of course, it won't matter in the end; there's plenty of places we can hide out all up and down the coast, and even in international waters. You, on the other hand, have reached the end of the line one way or another; mark my words, Blondie, this afternoon was the last time you'll ever see your folks or even the sun again."

He went quiet again, apparently satisfied he'd gotten his point across. Nicki glanced weakly around the sub. There in the corner was a box in which several green suits could be seen. Yes, this all explained everything. Unfortunately, it was already too late.

She hung her head again, her eyes starting to moisten. With the hurricane bearing down on Coronado Beach now, the window of time to search for her was getting narrower by the minute. Much as Adam, Samantha, and Jessie might not give up hope once her overturned boat was found, she might well be long dead by the time they did get the chance to look for her. And these men were right; with no extra evidence suggesting she was still alive, the authorities would probably buy the story that she was dead no questions asked.

_Hopeless_, she thought as she lost all her will and started crying. It was completely hopeless. This had all started by her wanting to help a drowning woman out of the ocean, an act of pure kindness. And now here she was bound and gagged in a sub heading who knew where, thousands of miles from her parents and her home, dozens of miles and widening from her friends, in the hands of violent killers. How, why, had it had to come to this!?

How long she sat there crying she didn't know, for in her grief she lost track of time. But abruptly her ears started crackling again. They must be surfacing. She glanced around the back of the seat she was sitting up against, desperate for a clue to her whereabouts, but only dark water could be seen through the windshield of the sub. With a loud splash it broke the surface--somewhere. Rex shut down the engine and walked back to where Nicki was seated. "Welcome to your new home," he told Nicki with a sick smile, "But I wouldn't want to spoil a surprise for you--none of us do. Blindfold her," he ordered Edgar, who pulled out another large white cloth, "Better this be a secret location for her as well."

Nicki tried to avoid the blindfold, but Edgar was right on top of her, and in seconds she could see nothing at all. She grimaced as he tied the blindfold into place as tightly as the gag--then cried out as what felt like a net was flung over her. "Let's go," Edgar picked her up like a sack of potatoes and carried her up the ladder out of the sub. It was taking all of Nicki's resolve to maintain any degree of calmness at all. She listened for any telltale sign to her location, but only the crunch of the men's shoes off a rocky floor and the distant yet intense lapping of waves gave any sign, and that wasn't enough for her to make an educated guess. She was, though, carried up a set of steps for some time before Edgar came to a sudden stop. A heavy iron door creaked open before he started moving again. He made a left turn and then a right before coming to a stop again. "In here?" he asked.

"Yeah, this'll do nicely," Rex said with grim delight. Another heavy door creaked open. "OK Miss Price, home sweet home," Edgar chuckled darkly as he turned to the right, making Nicki frown in wonderment at how he knew her name, "Let's get you nice and comfy in here. Kneel down."

He forced Nicki down in a kneeling position on a cold, stone floor and pressed down on her shoulders to hold her still. To her great disappointment, the net was not removed from over her, but rather the ends were tucked underneath her feet. "_Now what are they doing!?"_ she thought with a quivering heart.

She got somewhat of an answer when she heard the clanking of a metal chain of some kind behind her. Without warning, something large, cold, and metal was pushed up against her lower back and closed around her waist from behind. What was clearly a padlock was snapped into place in front of her waist, securing the metal in place. But this wasn't the end. More chains rattled, and she felt another set of heavy chains being wrapped around her ankles, securing the net in place and locking her feet to the wall behind her. A third set of chains went under the netting and were wrapped around the middle of the handcuff chain before being padlocked as well.

"That'll hold her good," Rex proclaimed once their work was finished.

"Yep, but I think we still need one more thing, something that'll make sure she'll think twice about trying to get out of this," Edgar commented, "You guys thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Oh yes," Chester said. Nicki heard the tearing of tape. A hand pressed down hard on her head just before something was placed against her right temple...the barrels of a double-barrelled shotgun. Deathly white, she strained against the hand holding her head still, but it kept her in an iron grip as more tape was wrapped around her head, securing the gun in place. "You see, sweetheart, this is fully loaded and armed," Rex whispered in her ear, "The slightest tap will set it off and end your life early, so if I were you, I'd hold real still until further notice."

He stepped back away from her. "And now we'll leave you to your thoughts, my lovely," he told her, "But one of us will be on guard outside at all times. I'd spend this time thinking over why being nosy isn't good for your health, and how we wouldn't have to do this to you if you'd been smart. Oh, and one more thing: as a going away present..."

The most horrible pain imaginable slashed into Nicki's right arm. She let out a bloodcurdling scream of agony that was heavily muffled by her gag into a very low moan. "You have to appreciate the irony, Miss Price," the thug leader almost laughed in parting, "You've spent all summer saving people's lives on the beach. Well, who's going to save the pretty blonde lifeguard when her life's in danger? No one, that's who."

He laughed for real, followed by his colleagues. Their footsteps receded away from Nicki until the heavy door slammed shut. Nicki's heart sank as a key turned in the lock and their footsteps faded away outside until only the pounding surf could be heard outside her room. She lowered her head again, wondering how she could possibly get out of her predicament alive.


	8. No One Left to Help

"Where's Nicki?" Samantha looked worriedly around the tower. She and Jessie had returned from their mission to post the signs, but Nicki was nowhere in sight.

"I can't believe her; Mr. Smarr made it quite clear she was to stay here at her post!" Jessie vented her frustration as a loud rumble of thunder could be heard from the ocean, "Just when we could get out of here, now she has to run off and do God knows what so...!"

"Jessie, come on, calm down!" Samantha shouted at her, "I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation. Let's go check and see if anyone else knows anything."

She switched on the radio. "Everyone, it's Sam at Tower Twelve; anyone hear from Nicki at all?" she asked the other lifeguards all up the beach.

"Yeah, Sam; she got a call about a boat in trouble about fifteen minutes ago or so, and went out to see if she could help," came a scratchy voice.

"She did what!?" Samantha went pale. Her gaze fell on the angry waves smashing ashore closer and closer to the tower, "She went out in this mess, knowing there's a storm coming!? Have you heard from her since she left?"

"No. Have you?"

Before Samantha could say anything, every fire alarm in town rose up, adding an unearthly tune to the howling wind, which rattled the wooden tower loudly. "Evacuation time," Jessie shivered, nervous, "Where's Nicki, Sam?" she fixed the brunette with a deeply worried look, "You didn't just say she went out to sea; tell me you didn't just say that!"

Samantha nodded grimly. There was a switching on the radio. "All lifeguard personnel please evacuate immediately," came Mr. Smarr's authoritative command, "Repeat, the eye of the hurricane is headed for Coronado Beach; all lifeguard staff evacuate the beach immediately."

"Wait, wait, we can't leave yet!" Samantha cried over the radio to him, "Nicki's still out there; we've got to go looking...!"

"Sorry Samantha, but she acted knowing the risks," he cut her off, "She's on her own now; if she makes it in, great; if not, it was her own fault. Batten down your tower and find shelter immediately."

The radio clicked off. "Why!?" Jessie sounded like she would explode in both rage and fear, "Why would she do this now!? What are we supposed to do now!? My parents are going to expect us there at the house to head to my aunt's any minute now; I...!"

"What's going on!?" came Adam's voice behind them. He frowned in worry himself, seeing only the two of them. "Where's Nicki!?" he looked frightened, "I just wanted to check to see if she's..."

"She's out there, Adam," Samantha pointed numbly at the churning, foaming ocean, "Which means only one thing: we've got to go out and find her."

* * *

The waves crashed hard against the wall behind Nicki, each one sounding like a bullet being fired at her back. The roar of the surf and the howl of the wind were almost deafening to her, drowning out any other sound she could have possibly heard to give her a clue of where she was. She jumped a little as a particularly strong wave crashed into the rocks. She was worried how much longer the walls could hold out.

She sat largely stock still, terrified of doing anything that would discharge the gun, which she could feel pressing ominously against her right temple. This was far a more terrifying experience than anything Claudia ever went through in her series. Come to think of it, she realized, Claudia had it very easy in similar situations; either she was simply locked in a closet or something, or when she was tied up, it was either lightly enough to work her way loose or she was close to a convenient object she could use. Nicki knew she had neither luxury. It couldn't get any worse that she had it now: handcuffed, tied up, gagged, blindfolded, wrapped in a net, chained to the wall, and with a gun taped to her head. And locked in a secure room well away from any human contact, with a hurricane about to start raging outside, and killers lurking around the bend, threatening to kill her at a moment's notice.

She pressed her hands up against her back, trying desperately to get them out of the handcuffs. If only Edgar had tied them like the rest of her body, she rued, she might have been able to use Adam's ring, still secure on her finger, to work the ropes. But with handcuffs on her wrists, she was helpless in that regard, and her fingers were pinned helplessly downward from the way she'd been tied, useless to use the ring on any other ropes.

_"Come on, please!"_ she begged her wrists, straining as hard as she could to make them narrow enough to slip out of the handcuffs. She pushed and pushed as hard as she could, but it was no good. They fit snugly around her wrists, leaving her little leeway to work with. She'd have to come up with some other solution.

A sharp crack of lightning almost right outside made her jump. The storm was here in full force now, she knew. And that all but eliminated rescue from the outside. If she was going to escape her predicament, she'd have to do it on her own. But that seemed impossible, particularly since the chains holding her to the wall were locked over the net the thugs had wrapped her in. If she was to have a chance, she'd have to get out of the iron restraints-which were securely padlocked, and her captors likely had the keys. The chain to her waist restraint was right under her fingertips, and it was on a whim that she seized hold of it and yanked as hard as she could on the chain. It went taut quick and stayed taut no matter how hard she pulled. Yes, the chains were quite secure, she conceded glumly, although she continued pulling the chain for lack of a better thing to do. Only the key would help her.

She jumped again as a big wave slammed into the wall behind her. She wished the kidnappers hadn't left her in such an uncomfortable kneeling position. Already her back was getting stiff and her legs were getting numb from the posture. The weight of the chains-which also made her feel like her arms and legs were being pulled backwards-and the heavy net encircling her were holding her down in place, ensuring she couldn't go far even if she wanted to. Nicki felt like a caterpillar in a cocoon, immobile and helpless. It was clear Edgar was a professional kidnapper now, given he'd left her no hope to escape on her own.

"_Why'd I have to fall for that trick!?"_ she ripped herself up mentally, "_Curse you, Price; you had to care too much, and now look what you've gotten yourself into!" _

Well, she realized, it wasn't really a crime to care too much; her mother's favorite saying was that one never could care too much. Still, she thought glumly, she should have probably called for backup to help her. Then she probably wouldn't be a hostage now in God knew where.

Lightning crashed again right behind the wall, making Nicki topple to her right in surprise-making the rifle smack against the floor. Her heart in her mouth, she completely froze up, but to her immense relief it did not go off. Sighing through her nose, she gently twisted her way back upright. She couldn't go on like this much longer, she thought to herself, slowly jerking her shoulders around in place. Impossible or not, she had to put all her energy into at least trying to get free; it was better than just sitting around doing nothing.

* * *

"Are you two sure you want to do this!?" Adam had to shout to be heard over the wind, which was knocking over anything that wasn't tied down around the lifeguards' boat dock.

"We have to!" Samantha shouted over the wind and pounding rain, "You just get back to the tower and stay by the radio. If Jessie and I don't find Nicki in fifteen minutes, we'll come right back in, I promise! Cast off, Jessie!"

The redhead reluctantly untied the boat they were in from the dock as Samantha started the engine. "Hey, hey, hey!" Mr. Smarr came rushing up, "What do you two think you're doing!? I won't let you go out in this!"

"We've got to find Nicki!" Samantha shouted as loud as she could, "Sorry, Mr. Smarr, but she's our friend, we owe it to her!"

"Come back here this minute or...!" Smarr's voice was drowned out as she zoomed out towards the dangerous ocean. Immediately the boat was violently rocked from side to side. "I'm not sure this was the best idea, Sam!" even though they were no more than two feet apart, Jessie had to scream to be heard.

"It's the only way, Jessie!" Samantha shouted back. She activated the radio. "Nicki, it's Sam, if you're near the radio, answer me!" she cried. Only static could be heard on the other end. "Nicki, it's Sam; please don't do this to us; talk to me!" she begged.

"WATCH OUT!" Jessie pointed in terror at a giant wave approaching them. Samantha spun the wheel hard to get out of its way, but even though they avoided the worst of it, they were still swamped with a wall of water. "This is terrific!" Jessie coughed, splashing as much water overboard as she could, "If we do find Nicki alive remind me to kill her for...oh great!" she groaned, searching desperately around the boat, "I think my cell phone got washed overboard! I can't let my parents know where we are anymore...I don't even know where we are anymore!" she glanced around worriedly, for the sheets of rain pouring down lent the girls almost zero visibility.

"Well the shore's back in that direction!" Samantha pointed backwards, "All we need to do is remember that, and when the time comes...hold on!" she pulled Jessie down as they just managed to top a wave before it broke, but the force of the backside almost tipped them forward enough to capsize them. "This is crazy!" Jessie was mortified, "Even if Nicki's our friend, it's not worth this to...!"

"Shut up, I see something coming right at us!" Samantha squinted through the rain, "It looks like...some kind of boat...oh my God, Jessie, that looks like one of the lifeguard's...!"

Her heart froze in her throat as what was clearly an overturned lifeguard boat. "Oh my God!" Jessie choked up, "Nicki...there's no way she could have...!"

"No," Samantha shook her head sadly, fighting back the tears, "She must have gotten caught in the...with the surf like this, she didn't have a chance...!"

She broke down as she reached out and touched the overturned boat as it drifted by them. Her hand was shaking as she turned on her own boat's radio. "Adam, are you there?" she could barely manage the words, "I have to tell you that Nicki..."

Suddenly Jessie let out a bloodcurdling scream behind her. Samantha turned as just had enough time to see the green creatures climbing into the boat behind them before the one in front brought down the club on her head and everything went black.

* * *

"What was that, Sam!?" Adam tapped the radio desperately back in the tower, "Sam, Jessie, either of you there!?"

There was only a hiss of static on the other end of the line. Adam twisted the knobs in every direction. "Sam, Jessie, talk to me!" he pleaded. abruptly the static stopped, leaving only silence to be heard. A deep pit formed in Adam's stomach. He glanced numbly towards the churning ocean. "Nicki..." the words barely escaped his lips. It looked bad for her. Why had she gone out in the middle of a storm? Because she cared too much for people not to try and help whoever had been out there, he knew sadly. And now her kindness had likely cost her her life.

He gasped as a waved crashed into the tower right against his legs, the force knocking over chairs and rocking the table. The storm surge was coming inland, and he'd be inundated if he didn't get out of there quickly. He leaped off the tower and slogged through thigh-high water and curtains of rain shrouding the now deserted beach towards still-dry land. There was still one last hope; perhaps the radio in the main lifeguard center was still working. If he could get the frequency for Samantha and Jessie's boat-which would have to be a shot in the dark, as he had no idea which frequency was which-maybe if they were still on the other end...

"There you are!" came Heather's furious voice from his right. Adam increased his pace, but she still caught up with him. "We need to talk, right now!" his now ex-girlfriend demanded.

"I have nothing to say, Heather," Adam told her roughly, "It's over, and I love someone else."

"Oh really, and you think that outsider creep Price is worthy of you!?" Heather upbraided him, "You're mine, Adam, and you know it!"

"Look, just leave me alone, Heather, I've got important business to take care of," he saw the outline of the lifeguard central control building ahead and bustled as fast as he could towards it.

"Oh I see, even though the little jerk was stupid enough to go out to sea in a hurricane and she's probably dead now, you're still willing to endanger your life for her!? I won't let you do something that stupid-and don't walk away from me, Adam!" Heather wasn't letting it drop, seizing his arm as he groped through the rain for the doorknob, "You're not blocking me out because you think...!"

"HEATHER, SHUT UP AND JUST LEAVE...!" Adam opened up the door, but stopped and had just enough time to cry in terror as the knife above him in the doorway came suddenly slashing down, leaving Heather to scream briefly before she too fell abruptly silent.

* * *

Nicki twisted her upper body in all directions. It still wasn't going well. She'd been squirming around for at least an hour, and the ropes weren't getting any looser. They dug hard into her arms and legs, making every move she made a painful one. She had lost feeling in her hands and feet by now, and the numbness was spreading quickly up her arms and legs.

She was crying as loud as she could into her gag in the faint hope that by some miracle there would be someone around to hear her. But she knew it probably wasn't going to work; the raging storm outside was too loud, and the thick cloth muffled her cries to barely audible moans anyway. Why the kidnappers had felt they'd needed to gag her when clearly no one was around to hear her, she had no idea, and she was desperate to somehow get it off, as it was pulling even harder at the corners of her mouth, affecting her concentration with the ropes. But then there was nothing she could use to work the tight cloth with in her position. She had nothing at all.

She stopped struggling. Sweat was pouring down her face. It was hopeless. She'd been struggling for an hour with nothing to show for it, and now she could feel her wrists bleeding from her efforts to get her wrists out of the handcuffs, matching her still-bleeding arm from the knife wound earlier. Nicki's head was starting to spin from the loss of blood. The cuts hurt, and the ropes hurt, and the gag hurt her mouth, and the blindfold hurt her head-she knew now how the kidnappers had planned to make her suffer. And she felt like she was suffering at the moment.

She moaned as a large blast of surf from outside splashed in through a window overhead and doused her. She felt tears welling up behind the blindfold. Why was this happening to her!? She'd only gotten involved in the mystery because she was worried about what had happened to Lynn in the first place. And for her kindness, here she was, completely alone and helpless with no idea where she was, unable to move a muscle in her body, and with her life hanging right in the balance at every second. And no one was coming to save her. She was alone in the maelstrom. Alone...

She lost control and started sobbing until the blindfold was saturated from her tears. She needed Samantha and Jessie, to have at least their company! Or Adam, dear caring Adam, to hug her close and kiss her troubles away! Or her parents, a thousand miles away, unaware she was in danger...oh what she would give to have them her to comfort her now, to help her...would she ever see them again...!?

She lost all self-control at this thought and started jerking wildly in all directions, straining as hard as she could with her bonds and screaming as loud as the gag would allow. It just had to work, it just had! She needed to get back to her parents; she wanted to go home...!

A key turned in the lock, and the door swung sharply open. "Calm down, now!" Rex ordered. Nicki barely heard him. She was too overcome by the hysteria of the moment, desperate to get free somehow, throwing herself wildly from side to side, not caring about the gun taped to her head going off or not.

And then she felt it without warning; she screamed at the top of her lungs as the knife was jammed hard into her upper abdomen. Every muscle in her body locked up in terror. "Like I said, stop it!" Rex warned her, pressing harder on the knife handle and pushing it in deeper, "Or would prefer I kill you now!? It's your choice, Miss Price."

Nicki shook her head emphatically, trying to block out the horrific pain. There was an agonizing silence before Rex casually remarked, "OK, you'll live for now." He pulled the knife back out to her immense relief. "But if I see you acting up like that again," she felt the knife pressed right against her throat, "I'll slit this real good and end you real fast. Understood!?"

Terrified, Nicki nodded hard. The knife was removed from her throat, and Rex walked back outside, locking the door behind him. Nicki slumped forward as far as the chains holding her to the wall would allow and started sobbing again, much softer this time, hoping her life wasn't just ticking away now from the stab wound. But she knew she was going to die either way, and no one was going to save her. It was all just a matter of time now...


	9. The Death of Nicki Price?

Samantha moaned as she came to. There was still a throbbing pain in the back of her head from where she'd been hit. Not to mention sharp pain in her arms and legs she couldn't quite explain.

She tried to open her eyes, but found she couldn't; a strip of tape held them shut. Another strip of tape sealed her lips shut, silencing her. Kidnapped, she realized with a sinking heart; had this been Nicki's fate as well?

Regardless, she knew she had to get out of this predicament as quickly as possible. Which seemed easier said than done. She was laying on her stomach on a cold, metal floor, her hands and feet tied together, and with her legs pushed up and her wrists and ankles tied to each other. The ropes were tied expertly, and Samantha couldn't find any slack in them when she tried to pull at them.

"What's going on out here in the ocean that pulled Nicki and now us into this!?" she rued, squirming about from side to side in a fruitless attempt to find some leeway to work with, "Who are these people who'd resort to kidnapping us!?"

Part of her thought she didn't want to know. She heard a loud muffled moan from behind her. Apparently Jessie was in the same room with her, and unfortunately, Samantha could clearly tell, her friend had also been tied up and gagged. She could hear Jessie grunting and moaning and shuffling about in seemingly every direction, sounding very scared. At least having Jessie nearby meant she wouldn't have to suffer her fate alone, but that meant they were alone and out of contact with Adam or anyone else back on the beach, if even anyone was still there. Although she and Jessie were clearly inside some room or compartment, Samantha could still hear angry waves crashing into rocks not all that far away, and she could noticeably feel herself rise and fall every other minute. So they were on a boat, but where? And how close were they to Nicki? Only Jessie's grunts could be heard around her, so Nicki wasn't with them. But where then? Was she even still alive? And if she wasn't, would she and Jessie be slated to share her fate in time? The thought if true made her blood freeze cold.

She tugged harder at the ropes, her lips twisting under the tape from the effort. It was no good; she was tied too well-and no matter how hard she rolled seemed to be stuck on her stomach in more or less the same spot. Somehow she'd have to find something to cut the ropes with, while blindfolded and not knowing anything about where she was. Samantha slumped her head on the floor and let out a loud, frustrated sigh. This was always so much easier a predicament on TV and in the movies.

Her ears picked up a distinct conversation somewhere overhead getting louder. She raised her head up again and stared up at whatever was above her. "HELP!" she cried through the tape as loud as she could manage. Behind her, Jessie was trying to scream for help as well and jerking about like crazy. Footsteps thumped on the roof above her, or whatever it was. "So you've got them on ice down there?" she heard a man speak up.

"Yep," a second man answered, "Don't worry about them causing any more trouble; they're tied up, gagged, blindfolded; the works. It would take them a year to get loose."

"You didn't have any trouble taking them out of commission?"

"Nope; once we got the tip they were coming, it was a simple matter of going back to about where we left Miss Price's boat and waiting for them. They didn't suspect anything until we knocked them out cold."

Samantha stopped squirming, surprised. They had known she and Jessie were coming out to look for Nicki? But who'd...how'd...who had tipped them off?

"Well, good work, Edgar," the first man commended him, "It looks like your services have come in extra handy after all."

"As long as get my fair cut in the end, you'll be quite glad you let me come along with you," Edgar said smoothly, "So, what do we do with the brunette and the redhead, then? Kill them, take them with us as hostages, kill one and take the other hostage...?"

"Well, taking care of their friend the blonde is priority number one," the first man said as he and his associate started walking away from where the girls were being held. Samantha sighed in deep relief; Nicki was still alive after all-at least for the moment. "We might as well leave these two snooping lifeguards sweat it out in there trying pointlessly to free themselves until Miss Price is taught her lesson," the man continued, "No one's coming to save them anyway, not with their beacon on the beach taken out and the hurricane raging out there. Once that's done, we'll make the final decision on what to do with them; maybe we'll blow a hole in the bottom and let..."

Samantha could no long hear their words, which were drowned out anyway as Jessie screamed in terror into her gag and went into a full frenzy with her bonds behind her. Inside, she was numb. While her life and Jessie's life were safe at least for the moment, Nicki's life hung in the balance even more than she thought. And if what he was insinuating was that Adam was no longer...the thought filled her with utter dread at what may have befallen him.

"_It's up to us then_," she realized, grunting as she jerked her way several inches at a time across the floor towards who knew what, "_We've got to_ _get free and help Nicki as soon as possible. But how!?"_ she grimaced as the ropes dug hard into her wrists and ankles when she pulled hard on them, _"There's got to be a better way than just struggling_ _forever with these ropes, and I need to know it fast!" _

* * *

The largest wave yet crashed into the wall behind Nicki, which she heard shudder sharply. She didn't care. She was slumped forward, still sobbing, the world drowned out around her by the crash of the waves, the scream of the wind, and the pounding of sheets of rain against the walls and ceiling of her prison, wherever it was. The shrieks of the hurricane, clearly now at full force, could have easily stood in for the turmoil in her mind.

She was rapidly losing her strength from loss of blood. All she could manage now was continuing to press and try and get her hands out the handcuffs-even though it was clear by now her hands were too big to slip through them-and trying to pull her legs forward underneath her to try and get her feet out of the ropes and chains, but as a half hour or so of this very unsuccessful ploy had now started her ankles bleeding as well, she was weakening even faster, with the bleeding ankles combined with her bleeding wrists, the slash on her arm, and the stab wound to her chest. The weight of the net and chains seemed to be getting heavier and heavier as her strength ebbed, pushing her farther forward; in no time she'd likely fall flat on her face and wouldn't be able to get up...

"_Who's going to save the lifeguard's life!?"_ she rued dismally to herself Rex's words when they'd first left her in her prison, jerking a little as another intense spray of surf came in through the window and inundated her, "_No one, that's who."_

The key turned in the lock again. Nicki had enough strength to raise her head. "Hello, remember me, Miss Price?" Rex was almost taunting her, as Nicki heard the sound of tape tearing, "You don't look so good. Well, I can help you there. I can help ease your suffering. Soon your time here will be nothing but an unpleasant memory, Miss Price."

Abruptly a hand slammed down on Nicki's head to hold her still, while another pulled the netting away from her face. Moments later tape smothered her nose. **_"OH GOD NO!"_** she thought hysterically, realizing what they were going to do to her. She tried to pull her head away, but it was too late; the tape already sealed her nose shut and was being wrapped around her head in ever more layers. Suddenly Nicki couldn't breathe at all. She started gasping wildly. "You see, Miss Price, this is the way to do it quickly and efficiently," Rex told her smugly, "It'll all be over in about five minutes for you at the most; very few people can hold their breaths longer than that. This works both ways for us; we take you out quickly, and you still suffer for it. Just remember again that if you'd minded your own business, you'd've lived to see the sun rise tomorrow, or whenever this storm will end. Tootleloo."

"_**MMMMMMMMMMMMMM!"**_ Nicki's desperate cry for him to come back fell on deaf ears. The iron door slammed shut and locked again. Her head was spinning rapidly, and she was going into convulsions. She needed air immediately. Choking loudly, she frantically tried lowering her head to rub the tape against her sternum, but she couldn't reach it. Only one option remained: she flung herself sideways, freezing only briefly to make sure the shotgun against her temple didn't discharge from the impact, which thankfully it didn't, and hysterically jerked her head back and forth against the floor. It was no use; the tape stayed firmly in place and sealed off oxygen to her. She retched and gasped and choked as she started blacking out. It was over, she knew deep down. She had to face the fact that she was now about to die, alone and helpless, a thousand miles from home...


	10. Is Freedom Only an Illusion?

_"Come on, come on!"_ Samantha begged in her mind, "_Just a little bit more, please_!"

She jerked her cheek against the metal outcropping to her left. After squirming aimlessly across the floor for what had seemed like hours on end, she literally bumped into what was apparently the ladder out of wherever she and Jessie were being held. Seeing an opportunity that this presented, she'd been rubbing her cheek against the ladder for what also had seemed like hours, trying to use it to get the gag and blindfold off. And after a while she had been making some notable progress; the tape silencing her had crinkled up to the left edge of her lips, and the tape blindfolding her had come far enough across to the point where could probably open her left eye a little bit if she got it off just a little more.

She felt the boat swaying even more violently underneath her. While it didn't seem they were out in the open ocean, she was concerned for Jessie's and her own safety in case they were capsized. Therefore, for theirs and Nicki's sake, speed was definitely of the essence.

Trying to blot out her seasickness, she pressed her cheek against the side of the ladder and scraped her cheek back and forth. This time there was notable progress; the gag peeled off a few more inches, leaving the very edge of her lips free and the tape dangling far enough out to catch on something. Flushed with excitement, Samantha maneuvered her cheek around the back of the ladder and pressed the dangling part of the gag against the lowest rung. She leaned her head against it so it stuck to it as well as possible. It was time for a major move. She steeled herself for what was to come, counted down from three in her mind, and jerked her head back. The tape pulled free of her lips in one fell swoop. Samantha took a deep breath of relief, pleased to be able to speak again.

Still, there wasn't much more she could do on her own now. "Jessie," she called out across their prison. Jessie, who'd still been squirming and grunting on the other end of the room, went silent. "Jessie, come on over here," Samantha called softly, not wanting to tip off anyone who might be listening in from above that she was no longer gagged, "I've got my mouth loose; I'll get those ropes off you."

"_Mmmmmffffff_." came Jessie's cryptic reply. Samantha could hear her shuffling blindly across the floor towards her in the dark. "Keep moaning, Jessie," she whispered, "I need to know where your hands are if we can do this right."

"_Mmmmmmffff, mmmmmmmm_," Jessie took her advice and continued moaning. Samantha hoped their kidnappers had tied Jessie the same way as her, or this was going to be trickier than she'd hoped, especially since she still hadn't done enough of a job with her blindfold, and would thus have to do what she was about to do blind.

She grunted sharply as Jessie crawled right into her, giving her a mouthful of the redhead's hair. "Yes, yes, that's good, Jessie, now hold good and still and keep moaning," she instructed her friend. She manuevered her mouth down through Jessie's hair until she felt her shoulders, then locked in on one of her arms and followed it until she got the unpleasant taste of ropes on her tongue. "OK, got it," she whispered, "Now hold really still and I'll get these off as quick as I can."

She started chewing on the ropes binding Jessie's hands. They left a foul taste in her mouth, but she continued with the unpleasant task; it was the only way given how well she and apparently Jessie had been tied. Time ticked mercilessly on, sometimes with no sign of progress. Slowly, though, Samantha could feel the ropes start to fray under her teeth. Jessie seemed to be anticipating this as well, for she started flexing her wrists with more and more vigor as the ropes got thinner and thinner between Samantha's teeth. Finally, as a loud crash of thunder echoed not too far off, the ropes snapped clean through with one final, strong bite. Samantha grimaced loudly as her friend inadvertently smacked her in the face with her now free hand. She scooted backwards a few feet and listened to the tearing and shuffling as Jessie hastily ripped off her blindfold and gag and untied her feet. "Oh good thinking, Sam!" she gasped between deep breaths, "I was starting to get scared we'd never get out of this. Hold still and I'll get you loose too."

The tape was pulled off Samantha's eyes. She could only make out Jessie's silhouette in the dark as her friend rapidly untied her. "Thanks," she commended her, rubbing her very sore wrists, grateful to be out of the helpless position she'd been stuck in for hours.

"I can't believe it, it's all real after all!" Jessie moaned, fear evident in her voice, "Nicki really was onto something here; maybe not sea monsters, at least I don't think those were sea monsters who jumped us, but this is still dangerous nonetheless. I was scared, Sam; who knows what these people are capable of if we hadn't gotten...!"

"I know, Jessie, so let's find Nicki quick and get her out of here before something bad does happen to her," Samantha noticed the thin ring of light surrounding the hatch out of their prison. She cautiously climbed up the ladder, opened the hatch a crack, and stared around. They were on a boat moored to the side of a large cave, and several other boats were tied alongside them. "These must belong to the other people who were attacked in the last couple of months at sea, like Nicki said," the brunette realized, "At least those that didn't get their boats wrecked."

"So do you think they've got Nicki on one of these too?" Jessie stared at the boats, "If we don't..." she trailed off abruptly. Samantha heard it too; footsteps approaching, and the words, "...better check on them before we do it." "Down, down, quick," she pushed Jessie back down the ladder. "Now what!?" the redhead was worried.

"Here," Samantha picked up the rope that had bound Jessie a few minutes ago and tossed it to her, "I don't really want to do this, but it's the only chance," she explained, "Tie your feet and put tape on your mouth. Wrap the other end of the rope around your wrists and pretend we're still helpless. Lay down in the corner with your head down; they won't notice you're not blindfolded that way."

She pulled the tape off the ladder and reluctantly pressed it back over her lips. In a moment, she assumed the position on the floor and pretended to struggle as the hatch opened. "_Please work, please work_!" she begged, moaning for the best effect. To her immense relief, the hatch was closed back up and the footsteps faded away. She and Jessie waited until all was quiet again before releasing themselves and climbing back out of the hatch. "That was close, that was real close," she breathed, climbing back up to the dim light--but at least light at all compared to the darkness of the hold, "Are you sure you're OK, Jessie?" she asked her friend with concern, helping her out, "You're shaking like a leaf."

"Yeah, well, Sam, being kidnapped, that sort of...it stays with you even after it's over," Jessie still had fear in her eyes from their experience. She rubbed her sore, red wrists as she glanced at her watch, still working even after having been doused with ample amounts of water. "Twelve thirty at night," she announced softly, "It was about quarter after five when we pulled out of the harbor. My parents are going to kill me if we get back there in one piece. But that's definitely better than whatever these people, whoever they are, would have in mind. So let's find Nicki and see if we can get out of here as quick as we can--wherever here is, anyway."

"Hmm," Samantha looked around the cave, "I think I have an idea where we are; looks like there's some kind of staircase at the far end," she pointed to the other end of the cave, "So let's check that out, but be prepared to run if we come across any of them."

"Run where to? The only way out I can see is out there!?" Jessie pointed towards the cave entrance to their left, where flashes of lightning illuminated a violent ocean every few seconds. Still, she joined her friend as they climbed off the boat onto the dry land alongside their mooring point and bustled towards the stairway, stopping only to examine the submarine tied up at the foot of the stairs. "That must be how they got us here," Jessie mused, still shaking a little.

"Yeah," Samantha nodded softly. She led them up the stairs to an iron door. "Aha, just as I thought," she proclaimed, drawing open a peephole on the door, "They took us to the old prison fortress, Jessie."

"I see," the redhead pushed her aside to see the long cellblock before them, "I see their logic; we're at least mile and a half out to sea here, and people probably wouldn't notice that cave if they weren't looking for it. So, I guess Nicki's in one of these cells?"

"One way to find out," Samantha slowly pushed the door open. The two of them crept down the hall softly and silently. Samantha pushed open the peephole to the first cell. "Not in there," she whispered.

"Not in here," Jessie glanced in the one across from her.

"Not..." Samantha stopped short as she heard a cell door opening not twenty feet ahead of them. She dove desperately into the cell she was checking and frantically waved Jessie to join her. Jessie just managed to join her in time before a man came out into the hall. Sliding the peephole open, the two lifeguards watched him intently. They couldn't hear a word he was saying over the roar of the storm outside, but watched as he slipped what was apparently a set of keys on a hook outside the cell he'd left and walked back towards the exit door, whistling. The girls waited until he was gone and clearly not coming back before rushing to the door. Samantha slid the peephole open. "It is Nicki!" she gasped, "And they've...oh my God; keys, Jessie, keys now!"

"What the...!?" Jessie glanced through the peephole herself and gasped in horror. Nicki lay on her side on the floor, visibly blue in the face from lack of oxygen with the tape over her nose and weakly convulsing. Jessie grabbed for the keys and fumbled them in the cell's lock. "Nicki, Nicki it's us, don't die on us!" she cried out, diving for her friend. She and Samantha desperately tore at the tape sealing Nicki's nose shut, ripping it right down the middle at her nostrils. "Careful, careful, watch that gun!" Samantha called out a warning both to Jessie and Nicki as the latter jolted from a fresh burst of oxygen. She cautiously tore the tape holding the gun in place to Nicki's temple, keeping one hand on the gun to steady it when the tape fell loose. She deposited the gun on floor gently, then reached over to pull off Nicki's tear-saturated blindfold while Jessie yanked off the gag. Nicki gasped horribly, blinking against the light. "Oh God, Sam, Jessie, thank you!" she sobbed, her voice a low croak, "How did you find me...!!??"

"Long story, Nicki, but don't worry, we're here for you now," Samantha hugged her friend, "We'll get you out of this."

"Hurry; they'll probably be back to make sure I'm dead; they tried to kill me!" Nicki jumped as a loud crack rang out from the wall as another wave struck dead on. She glanced around confusedly. "Where am I?"

"The old fortress on the island near where we found the wreckage of that boat yesterday," Samantha explained, taking the keys off Jessie and inserting the first one into the padlock to the chains holding Nicki's arms to the wall, which ominously was starting to crack from the force of the waves' onslaught, "We only found out ourselves a couple moments ago."

"What are you guys doing here anyway?" Nicki looked them down, squirming around in the net to try and look at them face to face, "Don't tell me you put your own life in danger for me!?"

"Hey, for you, you're worth it," Samantha told her, unlocking the chains and shoving them aside. "Besides, we're lifeguards, after all; it's our job to help those in need. Turn around, Nicki, and I'll get that terrible iron thing off your waist."

But it was at that moment that there was a thunderous crashing against the stone wall, which abruptly disintegrated. Nicki felt herself being pulled backwards by a powerful tide. "Oh no, help!!" she cried, straining to stay put, but finding the heavy stone fragments the chains were still attached to pulling her mercilessly out into the churning, foaming, deadly ocean behind her.

"Hold on!!" Jessie grabbed her by the legs. "Come on, Sam, hurry!" she cried to the brunette, fumbling to unlock Nicki's waist restraint. "No, wait, look out!!" the redhead screamed. Nicki saw it coming as well; another monstrous wave heading right for the open hole where the wall used to be. And she was unable to do anything to get out of the way. It crashed down on top of her with the force of a monster truck, drowning her under countless gallons of water. For a moment she was sure it was the end, and felt herself slipping back out to sea with the tide again, but thankfully Jessie's hands seized her ankles at the last second, just before the water mercifully receded. She coughed in agony. "Come on, Sam, hurry before the next one comes!" she begged to Samantha, on her knees rooting around next to her.

"Can't find the key!" Samantha was desperate, "Please, please don't have washed away!!" she crawled around, frantic.

"There, there it is!" Jessie pointed, "Hurry, Sam; the next wave's coming now!"

Samantha dove desperately in the direction her friend had pointed just as a loud thundering sound loomed behind Nicki. She sucked in the deepest breath she could manage before another wall of water slammed down on top of her with horrific force. The slabs of the wall pulled her backwards relentlessly, and she could feel herself slipping out of Jessie's grip. "I can't hold her much longer, Sam!" the redhead begged Samantha, "Hurry; I don't think Nicki can take much more either!"

"Coming!" Samantha, now with key in hand, dove at Nicki. In a quick order, she unlocked the waist restraint and the chains around Nicki's ankles. Another huge wave could be heard building behind them. The two lifeguards quickly pulled the net off Nicki, picked her up and carried her hastily to the side of the room just as the wave broke, flooding the cell up to their knees. They strained to remain upright as the undertow pulled them backwards. "Let's get moving," Samantha made a beeline for the door, "We can finish untying Nicki out there."

"Agreed," Jessie was eager to get out of the room as well. "Oh my God!!" she gasped in horror once they were safely in the hall, staring with revulsion at the stab wound on Nicki's chest, "Oh my God, Nicki, what did they do to you!?"

"It was horrible, Jessie," Nicki tried to maintain her composure; she didn't really want to be reminded of the terrible memories, "But I'll tell it later; just finish getting me out of this, and figure out a way to get these off," she held up her handcuffed wrists as best as the ropes holding her arms to her back would allow, "The men who kidnapped me have the key, and these are pretty solidly on."

"I think I've got an idea," Samantha was looking at another cell on the leeward side of the prison, "Bring her in there, Jessie."

The two of them carried Nicki into the cell, laid her on the floor, and untied the rest of her ropes. "Come on over here, Nicki," Samantha pointed to a huge iron ball on a chain on the far wall."

"My legs are still really numb," Nicki admitted, "But I'll do my best."

She scooted across the floor still in a seated position, coming to a rest against the wall. "Now hold real still," Samantha pulled on the chain to raise the iron ball up, "We don't want to hurt you."

She released the chain, and the iron ball came down hard on the handcuffs. Nicki froze up and remained perfectly still as Samantha repeated the proceedure twice more, until the handcuffs could be heard shattering with a loud clack. "Free," she moaned softly, pulling her hands forward, "Free. I never thought I'd be able to say that about myself again. Oh thank you, you guys!" she hugged her friends close again, "Oh I was so scared...!"

"Yeah, so were we when they grabbed us, Nicki," Jessie reassured her. She bent down to Nicki's level. "And I'd like to say I'm sorry I didn't believe you about this, too," she apologized, "Maybe if I had..."

"It's OK, Jessie, this more than makes up for it," Nicki nodded with a smile.

"Good, so the question is, how do we get you off this island and to a hospital, since it's clear you need medical aid," the redhead remarked, putting a worried hand to Nicki's stab wound on her chest, "That's pretty bad, and they must have ditched our boat after they grabbed us, because it's not tied up in the cave downstairs. Plus, I don't know how we'd ever have a clue which way was back to the beach," she stared hesitantly through the cell's barred window at the intense storm still raging outside.

"Well don't you worry about it, girls, because you won't have to worry about it," came Chester's cold voice from behind them. "I don't know how the three of you got loose," he advanced towards them, gun in hand, "But it doesn't matter in the end, because it will end now. Goodbye, ladies." He pointed the gun right at Nicki and started to pull the trigger...


	11. Watery Graves

In a flash, Nicki leaped towards him, pushing his arm backwards just as the shot rang out. Chester immediately stumbled backwards, glancing down at his chest, which was now bleeding almost as badly as Nicki's. "Oh...why...?" he managed before slumping to the ground. Samantha hesitantly reach for his wrist. "He's dead," she pronounced.

"I didn't mean it!" Nicki was horrified, "I just...!"

"Nicki, he was going to kill us; it was either him or us," Samantha, shaken to be so close to a dead body herself, put an arm around her sympathetically.

"At any rate, we'd better get moving; someone would have heard that shot, and there's definitely more than one of them," Jessie glanced hesitantly out the door, although the hallway was deserted at the moment, "Got enough feeling back in your legs, Nicki?"

"Some, but they're still pretty numb," she admitted, rubbing them to try and wake them up.

"OK, Sam, take one arm," Jessie hefted Nicki's left one, "Don't worry, Nicki, we'll get you out of here soon. There's plenty of boats down there..."

"Hey!" it was Edgar at the other end of the hall. A shot rang out, slamming into the wall inches from the girls. "On second thought, RUN!" Samantha came to a quick decision. She and Jessie half-dragged Nicki around the corner as another shot just missed as well. "Hide, hide, in here!" Samantha pushed open a cell door and hustled the others inside. They pushed the door shut and slid out of sight as Edgar slid to a stop right outside. "Well!?" Rex shouted impatiently from the other end of the hall, "Where are they!?"

"How should I know!?" Edgar shouted back, "Maybe they went back downstairs through the back staircase!"

"Well go look there; I don't want them getting off this island alive!" his boss snapped. Two set of footprints bustled off down the hall. The girls waited until all was quiet outside before opening the door again. "We'd better move in case they come back," Jessie looked worried, "They'll search around here in each cell when they see we're not down there."

"I think I have enough feeling to walk now," Nicki told her, and although she was swaying on her feet, she was able to stand upright now."

"Good, Nicki, the exit's back this way," Samantha waved her back around the corner. Although she was feeling a little lightheaded from everything, Nicki rushed back around the corner with her friends, down the hall and down the stairs to the cave under the island. "So this is it," she remarked, staring at all the boats moored in the cave, "These guys are pirates; they kill and rob their victims and probably sell their boats off to the black market or something. They've probably got..."

She tripped over a bag lying against the wall, which slumped forward. Out of the front slid a patch of familiar hair. Suddenly fascinated and horrified, Nicki hesitantly opened the bag...and had to jam a fist to her mouth to keep from screaming. Staring blankly right back at her was Heather's severed head-and other severed body parts. They'd found the killers' victims. "OH MY GOD!" she moaned in a high voice, feeling like throwing up, "Heather...I hated her, but to have her end up like this...what happened!?"

"I, I, I think that's Tim Reilly right there," Jessie numbly pointed at another, male head deeper down in the bag, "Oh my...so this is what they do to...Sam, remember what they said earlier when we were still tied up!?" she turned weakly to the brunette, "If that was Adam they were talking about...!"

"Adam? What about Adam!?" Nicki felt a lurch of horror inside of her. When neither of her friends answered, she pressed, "Come on, tell me, what's happened to Adam!?"

"Um, Nicki," Samantha began very slowly, "Jessie and I heard these guys say that they'd taken out our 'contact on the beach.' Adam had stayed behind to man the radio when we went looking for you. Now we don't know what they meant, but..."

"No, no, they couldn't have, THEY COULDN'T HAVE!" Nicki found herself shrieking in horror. Not Adam, not the sweetest boy she'd ever met!

"Nicki, come on, don't scream!" Jessie clapped a hand to her mouth, "Do you want to tip them off that we're here!? Come on, let's just get one of these boats and try and get back to shore; maybe he isn't dead."

Nicki wasn't listening. She was frantically tearing through the bag, gruesome though its contents were. The good news was that Adam's remains, if he were in fact dead, weren't in there. But she knew these men were professionals; if Adam had been "taken out," they would have made good sure of it. The tears flowed in buckets from her eyes again; why did Adam have to pay for this...!?

"Nicki, come on, help tie this one off," Samantha was already aboard the nearest boat. Nicki wiped the tears away and undid the lines mooring it to the cave wall. Glancing back at the entrance, she saw the storm still raging outside. "Do we want to chance it with this still going full blast?" she asked haltingly.

"It's better than staying around here and waiting for those guys to kill us," Jessie pulled the lever to raise the anchor, "See if there's a key in the wheelhouse, Nicki."

"On the contrary, all of you freeze," came another voice from the wheelhouse, accompanied by a gun cocking. Nicki's blood froze. It couldn't be, not...

"MR. SMARR!?" she gasped, shocked.

"Hello Nicki," he looked grim, "I really wished you hadn't intruded into what was going on here."

"I see," she mumbled in shock, "THAT'S why you asked Sam and Jessie to go put up signs for the hurricane; it was just a ploy to have me alone when the killers put out that phony S.O.S. call; you wanted no one to know I was going out to sea hoping to rescue someone so no one would come help me when they kidnapped me!"

"And it was you who tipped them off that Sam and I were going out to look for Nicki, so they could grab us too," an equally shocked Jessie added, "But why? Why would you agree to help people like this do the things they've done!?"

"Because Larry's my brother," Rex stepped onto the boat, Edgar in tow, "I needed someone I could trust when I decided to set up my little operation here. He'd listen in on the boat signals and radio me when the weather was right and we could strike unprotected ships. It was his idea to use the whole local legend of the sea monster; I wasn't sure it was quite necessary, but if it kept people guessing, why complain?"

"And I get an equal cut of the profits from each robbery," Smarr finished, "but unfortunately, because you girls tried to figure out what was going on, the cover got completely blown."

"Adam," his memory flashed through Nicki's mind. A rage was building up inside of her. "What did you do to Adam, Mr. Smarr!?"

"Oh, don't worry about him, Nicki, he's on the floor in my cabin, not to bother you again," he looked a little repulsed, but convinced whatever he'd done had been necessary. Nicki lost all self-control. "YOU FILTHY DEVIL!" she snarled leaping at him with her arms outstretched. Her boss shoved her away and clamped his hands down on her throat, leaving her gasping for air yet again. "LEAVE HER ALONE!" Samantha rushed forward to help Nicki. Smarr raised his gun and brought it down violently hard on her head. "Oh God, Sam!" Nicki gasped in horror to see her friend collapse unconscious to the floor, or perhaps even...

"She brought on herself, Nicki," Smarr looked stunned at what he was capable of, but he quickly changed expressions to one of resolve, pushing Nicki up against the boat railing next to an equally horrified Jessie, "If you don't want to meet Samantha's fate, don't fight back any more. What do we do now?" he asked his brother.

"Now we'll start over again elsewhere along the coast-after we finally dispose of your nosy lifeguards for good," Rex glared right in Nicki's face.

"Mr. Smarr, please, you said you respected how well I've done all summer!" she begged him to intercede, "You wouldn't want to be responsible for the death of...!"

"I meant what I said, Nicki; you were the best lifeguard I had in years," he told her glumly. Lowering his head, he turned to the convicts. "Do as you want with her and the others."

"No, please, Mr. Smarr, you can't do this!" Nicki protested as Edgar pulled her arms behind her back and started tying her hands together, "You can't want to...!"

A thick blue rag was jammed into her mouth. "Just shut it!" Rex warned her, hefting a wide strip of white adhesive tape, "I swear, the sooner we get rid of you, you whiny little jerk, the better!"

He wrapped the tape around her head over her lips more times than she could count, sealing her lips firmly shut. He then joined Edgar in tying her up from head to toe. Nicki grimaced as each knot was tied bone-crunching tight, too weakened from her earlier struggles and loss of blood to effectively resist. To her left, there was a moan as her employer stuffed a red rag into Jessie's mouth to silence her, the took the tape off Edgar to complete the gag. Jessie stared back at Nicki, her green eyes wide in fear. And Nicki couldn't blame her; there was no one left to come to their aid this time.

"That's good," Rex stepped back from Nicki, having left her entire body immobilized, "But we're going to make real sure now. Get it, Edgar."

The professional kidnapper handed him a large sack. Rex lifted up Nicki's legs and slid them into it. Nicki tried to roll away, but Edgar held her still until Rex had pulled the sack all the way up to her chin. He tied the drawstring tight, then tied more ropes around her waist and thighs, leaving Nicki feeling like a mummy. She stared somberly at Jessie, who was putting up more of a fight over being tied into a sack of her own, but in no time she too was completely immobilized in it as well. Her eyes still wide, the redhead's shoulders slumped in resignation. She and Nicki could only watch as the men turned their attention to the still unconscious Samantha, who was quickly gagged and tied up in a sack of her own as well. "All right, put them in the cabin," the head lifeguard mumbled softly, "Then go on and take care of them."

Nicki was picked up and carried to the middle of the boat. A door was opened, and she was flung roughly inside, landing with a thud on her side. She grimaced as Samantha landed right on top of her. She strained to roll out of the way and glanced around what was to be their prison for the moment. It wasn't encouraging; just four steel walls and nothing else. Nothing they could use to get loose. And even though her hands were only tied now, it did her no good tied into this sack, where she couldn't use them even if she did get them loose.

With a low squeak Jessie was flung into the corner. "Enjoy the ride, girls; it'll be the last one you ever take," Edgar hissed at them.

"Wait," Rex walked forward with the roll of tape in hand, "Don't want to spoil anything, do we?"

He bent over Nicki and despite her efforts to avoid the tape she was soon firmly blindfolded again. Shaking, she heard the sound of the engines starting. "OK, head on out," Rex called after having presumably blindfolded her friends as well. The door to the cabin was slammed shut and locked after him. Nicki felt the boat moving forward. A soft moan heralded Samantha's return to consciousness next to her just seconds before the sudden roar of the storm as they exited the cavern drowned out all noise. Suddenly the waves kicked in full force, and the boat rocked violently. Nicki was flung roughly against the wall behind her as the boat crested a wave, then was thrown with even more force all the way across the cabin as it flew down the other side. She moaned in pain as she hit the wall hard, straining every muscle in her body with her remaining strength to at least loosen the ropes a little. But there wasn't enough time to concentrate as she was flung backwards again with the next wave, crashing into either Samantha or Jessie in the middle of the room.

What was their fate, she wondered with a shiver, her ears being assaulted by the deafening crashing of the waves against the boat. No one could survive out in a storm like this. Were the men going to set them adrift to be drowned by the hurricane? That, she knew, would be a slow, agonizing death. Then again, none of the immediate alternatives were any more appealing.

It seemed like forever that she was tossed about like a rag doll inside the cabin as they headed to wherever they were going. Eventually, though, she heard the hum of the engine die. The cabin door was unlocked and opened, just as a torrential shower of water inundated the cabin, splashing her hard into the back wall under a wall of water that she was convinced was going to drown her then and there before it mercifully pulled back out. "OK, Red, Miss Brunette," Rex had to shout over the din of the storm for Nicki's friends to hear him, "Don't you two bother getting up, if you could anyway, because this doesn't concern you; we'll just leave you two in here, and the storm'll smash this boat to pieces in time and take care of you that way. As for you, Miss Price, though, your time's up now."

Nicki was lifted up and carried out into the maelstrom, crying out into the gag as they were inundated with another wave. The door was slammed shot and locked behind her, imprisoning Samantha and Jessie back in the cabin to meet their fates. She heard the clanking of a chain as she was lifted up high and lowered down over the railing, it felt like when it brushed against the back of her head. She also felt cold metal against her head now-the anchor. "_OH NO, PLEASE, NOT THAT!"_ she begged in her mind, numb with terror.

But it was true; they were now chaining her to the anchor. "Once you're all set, Miss Price, we'll just throw the lever here and send you down to a deep, dark watery grave," Edgar sneered loudly right in her ear to be heard over the storm, "The perfect resting place for a nosy young lifeguard. And once you've hit the bottom, we'll cut the chain and leave you down there for all eternity. Down worry about your friends; they'll drift around in the waves for a little while before they get smashed up and drown. Meanwhile, we'll escape in our sub down there to a new hideout and pick up where we left off. And remember, in the last few minutes of your life, if you hadn't gotten involved in what we were doing, both you and your friends would be safely back on shore now."

Nicki hung her head. They were right, she conceded; she had dragged Jessie and Samantha into this. Their deaths would be on her conscience. If only she'd been able to get them off the island; now her fate would be theirs in the end.

She was shaking as the men stepped back, having chained her from head to toe to the anchor. It would only be a matter of seconds now. There'd be a sudden jolt as they dropped the anchor, she knew, and then nothing but water. "Get ready and hurry it up," Mr. Smarr shouted impatiently from the submarine, apparently parked right next to the boat, "The sooner we get her underwater, the sooner we can close up and get out of this mess."

"Don't worry, Larry, I'll just pull this..."

"Wait, is that a boat there?" came Edgar's worried voice. Nicki's spirits briefly rose; was help at hand at the moment of doom!?

"Never mind that; watch out for that wave!" Smarr cried out in pure terror, "That's got to be at least thirty...OH MY GOD, TURN!"

"TOO LA-!" Rex never got to finish his cry. The wave crashed hard into the boat-too hard, for Nicki felt the sudden jolt as the anchor dropped; the wave must have been hard enough to throw the anchor lever itself, she realized in horror, but knew it was already too late as it plunged into the ocean and dropped rapidly into the depths, taking her down with it straight to the bottom...


	12. Sunrise

Nicki barely felt the sharp bump as the anchor landed on the bottom. Her consciousness was drifting rapidly away as the water overwhelmed her lungs. It was just a matter of mere seconds now, she knew.

Would they ever find her down here, she wondered weakly as her mind began blacking out for the last time? Or would she remain a permanent feature on the ocean floor until her body decomposed away, leaving nothing behind? Either way, it didn't matter now. The abyss was right there in front of her; all she had to do was just let go...

When suddenly something touched her face. Fingers, it felt like-fingers pulling hard at the tape over her mouth. Or so it felt like; she was barely conscious enough to react anymore. But sure enough, the tape was ripped apart from her lips, the rag pulled quickly out, and something metallic pushed in. Suddenly Nicki had a fresh supply of air flowing to her lungs. Rescue, she realized, her brain snapping back to life; it had been another ship she'd seen; she wasn't dead yet!

She could make out a voice trying to say something in the water next to her, sounding like, "Keep breathing, Nicki, keep breathing!" Suddenly there was a sharp jerk, and Nicki felt the anchor heading back UP. Yes, her spirits rose, she was being saved! Her immediate savior had grasped hold of the anchor-she could feel the extra weight on the anchor, although it wasn't weighing her down any more than it needed too-and was taking the ride up with her. He or she had one hand on the respirator, making sure it stayed in place in her mouth, and was stroking her hair reassuringly with the other.

The ride up to the surface seemed to take an eternity, but soon enough, Nicki's ears started crackling, hinting the surface was near. Moments later, she crested the waves with a loud splash. "Get her up out of there!" shouted a man's voice loudly. Strong arms seized the anchor and hauled it up onto solid ground. "Someone get a blowtorch!" another cried out.

"Nicki, are you all right!?" came the voice right by her ear, deathly worried. Nicki's heart leaped. It had to be...she knew it was as the tape was peeled off her eyes, to show in the dim light...

"Adam," she sobbed in delight. There he was, standing right over her, a scuba tank in hand, sopping wet, and utterly relieved to see her alive.

"Nicki," without a second thought, he bent down and kissed her. And wouldn't stop the kiss. Which, truth be told, was just the way Nicki wanted it at the moment. How long they stayed in that embrace, she couldn't tell, but it was some time before another male voice called to their left, "OK, step back son, we'll need some room to work with her."

"Right," Adam stepped back. A pair of men in Coast Guard uniforms stepped forward with the blowtorch. "Hold still, miss," one instructed her, bending down to apply the flame to the chains holding her to the anchor. Nicki readily obeyed. She glanced around. The hurricane seemed to be slowing down, as the wind and waves were much more normal-looking now, and what even appeared to be a break in the storm was visible on the eastern horizon in the dawn light. A large coast guard cutter was parked next to the wreckage of the boat she and her friends had been in...her friends...

"Oh my God, Sam and Jessie!" she gasped, her eyes darting all over the wreckage, "Have they...did you...!"

"Don't worry, Miss Price, we found your friends in time," one of the Coast Guard men over her assured her, "Lucky thing that wave smashed the door off that cabin so we could see them right away. See, they're nice and safe up there."

He pointed to the cutter, and Nicki was deeply relieved to see Jessie and Samantha sitting on the deck being untied. Both her friends looked deathly shaken from the experience, but were clearly going to walk away from it, just like she was. "And those guys?" she asked, noticing the sub next to the wreckage, overturned.

"Looks like they all drowned," the man shook his head, "We'll check for the bodies, but safe to say they're not going to bother you again."

With a clang the last chain broke loose. The men shoved the chains aside, and let Adam join them in releasing Nicki from the sack and then untying her. She threw her arms around him once she was free again. "Oh Adam, I thought you were dead!" she sobbed happily, kissing him repeatedly, "Mr. Smarr, he said you'd been...!"

"Yeah, he got me right in the chest too," Adam lifted up his shirt to reveal an equally terrible stab wound, "It all happened rather quickly. Heather was with me, trying to force me to come back to her; she tried to run away after he attacked me, but he chased her down and started stabbing her too. The surf was coming in, and I knew I'd be finished off too if I didn't get away, so when his back was turned, I let it carry me into the ocean. The surge was wrecking his station by that point, so he couldn't have checked even if he wanted too. I thought for a while I would still die there in the surf, but the waves eventually slammed me ashore farther up the beach. I knew something was up like you'd said if Mr. Smarr would resort to murder like that, so I willed myself to get to the police despite the terrible pain I was in."

"He must really care for you, young lady; he demanded we bring him with us when we came out here to search for you and your friends," one of the Coast Guard men draped a warm blanket around her, "And when he saw the boat get swamped, he just grabbed some air and dove overboard after you without a second thought."

"Yeah, he is wonderful," Nicki gave Adam another kiss and resumed embracing him.

"Hey, when I give someone a ring, it means something," he held up her finger with the ring, "I want to be there for you for the rest of my life, Nicki. Come on," he helped her up and led her across the wreckage of the boat towards the cutter, "There's some other people here I think you'll be glad to see right now."

"Who?" Nicki asked. Her question was almost immediately answered by a loud cry of, "Nicki!" when she climbed on the cutter's deck, prompting a thundering of footsteps right towards her. "Mom, Dad!" she cried in delight, ecstatic to see them, even though she had no idea how they'd gotten there. She lunged towards them herself and embraced both of them at once. "Oh you don't know how glad I am to see you!" she sobbed in delight.

"Oh my God, Nicki, what happened to you!?" her mother gasped at the slash mark on her arm and the stab wound on her chest.

"It's a long story, Mom," she told her, accepting a relieved kiss from her, "But what are you two doing here!?"

"Your mother and I decided we'd surprise you and come down to visit," her father explaining, giving her a kiss of his own, "But with the hurricane coming, our flight was diverted up to Fort Lauderdale, and then we read in the papers that dead bodies were washing up on shore down here, and no one was answering the phone when we called, so we drove down here in the heat of the storm, but we found your place deserted, and when we went to the police, we heard you might have been lost at sea...bless you, young man," he turned to Adam and gave him a hearty handshake, "For saving Nicki's life now and getting the police involved, you have our eternal gratitude."

Adam merely blushed. "This is Adam," Nicki introduced him, "And yeah, he is really special. Well, I suppose I do owe the two of you an explanation..."

She told them her entire experience. "Well, I'm glad you cared for the safety of others, Nicki, but next time, just let the authorities handle something like this," her mother said, shaking a little at the thought of what might have befallen her daughter.

"I was planning on it, Mom; they tricked me out here to be captured after I'd decided to give up being a sleuth," she admitted.

"Well," one of the Coast Guard men had been listening in, "It's clear your daughter's done quite a bit of good any way, Mr. and Mrs. Price; she exposed a pretty cold-blooded operation here. They could have kept doing this with impunity if she hadn't been paying attention."

"Yes, I guess we are proud of her for that," her father hugged her, "She is a very brave girl most of the time. Now let's get her and her friends to the hospital while this storm seems to be letting up."

"Looks like the eye's coming in," the Coast Guarder glanced up at the sky, "We probably have a half hour before it starts up again, but that'll be plenty of time. "OK Captain, everything's good!" he called up to the bridge, "Take her in."

Nicki breathed in relief as the cutter lurched through the now less threatening waves towards the thin sliver of land in the distance. She had made it through the worst. She walked over to where Samantha and Jessie were sitting, staring at the wreckage of the boat and sub, being lashed to another Coast Guard ship for towing. "You two all right!?" she asked them, concerned, "I am sorry I dragged you two into this and endangered your..."

"Hey, Nicki, don't blame yourself," Samantha told her encouragingly, "You had no way of knowing it was going to come to this. Like that guy said, we ended up doing a lot of good."

"Yeah," Jessie added, although she was still shaking from the experience, "Now that we're OK, I guess it was a good experience in the end. Just next time," she fixed Nicki with a gaze, "Make sure we get the police first so we don't have to fight for our lives."

"Well, I hope there isn't a next time, Jessie," Nicki chuckled.

"Same here," Adam sat down next her, "I don't want to see anything else bad happening to my precious Nicki."

"Oh, I'm precious to you too?" she smiled from ear to ear.

"You're precious to everyone you know, Nicki," he leaned forward for another kiss. Nicki happily obliged, throwing her arms around him. She felt safe now, hugging him tight and feeling her parents gently rubbing her shoulders. Her nightmare was over, and she had survived.

THE END


End file.
